Parents of Transgender First-Grader File Discrimination Complaint - CNN.Com
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3/1/13 Parents of transgender first-grader file discrimination complaint - CNN.com SET EDITION: U.S. INTERNATIONAL MÉXICO ARABIC Sign up Log in TV: CNN CNNi CNN en Español HLN Home TV & Video CNN Trends U.S. World Politics Justice Entertainment Tech Health Living Travel Opinion iReport Money Sports Parents of transgender first-grader file 21k 1,090 28 53 discrimination complaint Recommend Tw eet Share By Ed Payne and Ashley Fantz, CNN updated 8:50 AM EST, Thu February 28, 2013 Print Email More sharing Part of complete cov erage on Special Report: Bullying Transgender child's family fights school AC360 documentary: The Bully Effect "The Bully Effect," premiering STORY HIGHLIGHTS Coy Mathis and her parents, Jeremy and Kathryn, will be guests on on CNN on February 28 at 10 p.m. ET follow s the personal NEW: "The district firmly believes "Starting Point" live Thursday in the 7 a.m. ET hour. journeys of a number of kids it has acted reasonably and and parents profiled in the fairly," its law yer says (CNN) -- A transgender rights group announced Wednesday that it documentary "Bully." Coy Mathis' parents file a has filed a discrimination complaint in Colorado on behalf of a first- complaint under Colorado's Anti- grader who was born a boy but identifies as a girl. Discrimination Act Our unhealthy love of reality TV bullying updated 2:26 PM EST, Thu February 28, 2013 Coy can no longer use the girls' The filing stems from a decision announced last December by restroom at her elementary A red-faced Gordon Ramsay school officials at Fountain-Fort Carson School District that Coy Mathis gets nose-to-nose w ith an older man and shouts, "Wake The school district says Coy can could no longer use the girls' bathroom at Eagleside Elementary. up!" He calls another chef's use other restrooms in the food "rotten." To us, it's school Mother Kathryn Mathis said she and her husband were shocked. entertainment. "We were very confused because everything was going so well, and Cooper: Say no to bullying they had been so accepting, and all of a sudden it changed and it updated 4:38 PM EST, Thu February 28, 2013 was very confusing and very upsetting because we knew that, by Some adults may still think bullying is just a youthful rite of doing that, she was going to go back to being unhappy," she told passage, but it seems w orse CNN. "It was going to set her up for a lot of bad things." than in previous generations for many parents, educators and kids. Coy was born with male sex organs but has identified as female since she could express herself, her mother said. The child had attended classes during her kindergarten year with no problems and Could your child be a bully? updated 11:55 AM EST, Tue February 26, 2013 no complaints from anyone at the school, Mathis told reporters at Bullies can be almost anyone, the Colorado Capitol in Denver, where she was flanked by her at any time. And the most likely husband, Jeremy, and four other children. targets of bullies? The bullies themselves. Wearing a girl's winter coat, Coy stood behind her mother. Father finds purpose after son's suicide Afraid bullies would make fun of her daughter, Kathryn Kirk Smalley and his w ife, Mathis said she pulled Coy out of school during winter Laura, endured every parent's w orst nightmare -- burying break. their child. Their 11-year-old Mathis family: We need to protect Coy son, Ty, w as a victim of "In the end, we just want what is the best for Coy," Mathis bullying. www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/us/colorado-transgender-girl-school/index.html 1/11 3/1/13 Parents of transgender first-grader file discrimination complaint - CNN.com said about the complaint. "We want her to be able to go When bullying goes high-tech back to school and be treated equally without updated 11:09 AM EST, Thu February 28, 2013 discrimination and harassment." Brandon Turley didn't have friends in sixth grade. He w ould often eat alone at lunch, Attorney Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal having recently sw itched to his Defense and Education Fund, which is representing Coy, school w ithout know ing Transgender hoops player takes to court said the complaint -- which was filed with the Colorado anyone. Civil Rights Division -- is intended to have an impact beyond a single family or school. Bullying: Personal journeys These snapshots illustrate "For many transgender people, discrimination is a daily w hat children and parents profiled in Lee Hirsch's eye- part of life. Unfortunately for Coy, it has started very opening documentary have early," he said, adding that the complaint is a "test of overcome. Chaz Bono's emotional transition Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act." "The world is going to be looking at the school," he said, Faith shaken by gay daughter which can "send a message to the world and teach Bobby Johnson's daughter Kelby came out of the closet at tolerance, fair play and equal rights." age 14. The reaction from their church, he says, w as A girl's life immediate. 2011: Tammy and Mario: Gender journeys For most of the past year, Coy has dressed as a girl. Watch: Victim 'didn't feel the pain' updated 1:13 AM EST, Tue February 26, 2013 Coy's passport and state-issued identification recognize her as Alex Libby overcame female. traumatizing bullying at school. His story is part of "The Bully Effect," airing February 28 at Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are 10 p.m. ET. Kathryn Mathis said she got a call "out of the blue" from the school Fighting for your bullied child in December saying that Coy could use the boys' bathroom, gender- The bullying Jackie Libby's son, neutral faculty bathrooms or the nurse's bathroom, but not the girls' Alex, faced every day w as so facilities. severe that she w orried the emotional toll w ould drive him to suicide. The district "took into account not only Coy, but other students in the building, their parents and the future impact a boy with male genitals using a girls' bathroom would have as Coy grew older," a Watch: Preview 'The Bully Effe ct' letter the family's attorney received in December said. updated 1:06 PM EST, Sun February 24, 2013 Premiering Feb. 28, 2013, "The Bully Effect" is a pow erful "However, I'm certain you can appreciate that, as Coy grows older documentary on a movement to and his male genitals develop along with the rest of his body, at end bullying in America's least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable schools. with his continued use of the girls' restroom." Don't tell victims to 'just fight back' In a statement Tuesday, the district's attorney, W. Kelly Dude, said: updated 12:35 PM EDT, Wed October 31, 2012 "The district firmly believes it has acted reasonably and fairly with Many schools are implementing respect to this issue. However, the district believes the appropriate programs that teach empathy and respect for others. But not and proper forum for discussing the issues identified in the charge everyone agrees w ith this is through the Division of Civil Rights process. The district is approach to managing bullying. preparing a response to the charge which it will submit to the division. Therefore, the district will not comment further on this Does it 'get bette r' for LGBT youth? matter out of respect for the process which the parents have The answ er to that question initiated." depends on how you look at it, according to a study published "It's sad that the Mathis family had to file a civil rights complaint in in the journal Pediatrics. order for their daughter to be treated equally," said Herndon Graddick, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in a statement. "The students clearly aren't the only Cartoon Network's anti-bullying flag people at this school who need more education." updated 11:06 PM EST, Wed February 20, 2013 Cartoon Netw ork and Sen. Casey launch a national flag A little-studied group raising program as part of the Stop Bullying: Speak Up Transgender children experience a disconnect between their sex, campaign. which is based on their anatomy, and their gender, which includes behaviors, roles and activities, experts say. Bullying linked to suicidal thoughts updated 10:18 AM EDT, Tue October 23, 2012 For the general public, transgender identity may be a new concept, Amanda Todd, a Canadian teen though many might recall Chaz Bono, the child of entertainers w hose suicide provoked a flood of sympathetic outrage, Sonny and Cher. Born female, Bono underwent a transition in his endured one torment after 40s to become a man. He wrote in his book "Transition" that, even another in the years leading up to her death. www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/us/colorado-transgender-girl-school/index.html 2/11 E 2 3/1/13 Parents of transgender first-grader file discrimination complaint - CNN.com as a child, he had been "aware of a part of me that did not fit." He appeared last year as a man on "Dancing with the Stars," in part, he said, to destigmatize being transgender. Being transgender no longer a mental 'disorder' in diagnostic NewsPulse manual Most popular stories right now Michigan to take over Detr oit Comprehensive data and studies about transgender children are city government rare.