The Mt. Horeb School Board has unanimously approved guidelines to accommodate transgender students after a district elementary school was threatened with a lawsuit last month for adding a book about a transgender girl to its curriculum.
Under the new guidelines, transgender students in Mt. Horeb will now be able to use restrooms, locker rooms and participate in sports that align with their gender identity.
The school board was pushed to take action after the religious liberty group Liberty Counsel threatened to sue Mt. Horeb Primary Center for adding “I Am Jazz” to its curriculum. The book was intended to help students better understand one of their Mt. Horeb district classmates who had transitioned from boy to girl. The school eventually dropped its plans for students to read the book.
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School Board President Mary Seidl said that while no district wants to be threatened with a lawsuit, “it also gives us the opportunity to take that and make a positive for our district. And I feel like we’re doing that.”
The majority of school districts in Wisconsin do not yet have guidelines in place to accommodate transgender students.
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