JCPS Finally Passes Trans Policy Expansion!

Last night some old Louisville human rights business I'd been working on since 2007 and had to unhappily leave undone when I moved in 2010 was finally completed!

By a nearly unanimous 6-1 vote, the Jefferson County Public School Board in Louisville voted to expand the JCPS  anti-harassment and non discrimination policies to includes  added gender identity and expression to the district's non discrimination and anti-bullying policies.

And the wonderful Bluegrass State news news had me doing the happy dance deep in the heart of Southeast Texas.

It was a process that Mike Slaton and I along with a team of people had been fighting for back in 2007, and I was bitterly disappointed when the gender identity and expression language was cut in favor of adding sexual orientation only

JCPS is Kentucky's largest school district, with 101,000+ students, 172 schools, and 6,400+ teachers, With this near unanimous vote, JCPS becomes only the second school district in the state to add gender identity to its non-discrimination and bullying and harassment policies.

The Fayette County Public School Board in Lexington approved a similar policy in July 2012.

As Metro Louisville Human Relations Commissioner Dawn Wilson said in a statement on her Facebook page," Tonight, the ghost of 2007 was finally laid to rest.  No outside opposition. Room supportive. As the education chair of the Louisville Human Relations Commission I applaud the JCPS board for passing 6-1 gender ID and expression to the school policy!

The chair of GLSEN Bluegrass was also pleased with what transpired at the Van Hoose Education Center last night.
“We are pleased to see JCPS pass this policy and join Fayette County as the only two school districts in the state with fully inclusive policies that protect students regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Zoey Peach, chair of GLSEN Bluegrass. “With the knowledge that they are protected from bullying and discrimination, these policies will ensure a safe and affirming school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in these schools.” 

And I'm happy for the trans JCPS students and employees the expansion of this policy will protect. . 

JCPS Trans Inclusive Policy Passes First Stage Vote

When I left Louisville in May 2010 four days after my birthday to come back home, I had unfinished human rights business I was unhappy to leave undone.

That unfinished business was getting a nondiscrimination policy that included gender identity language for the Jefferson County Public Schools. 

In 2007 I was part of a coalition effort to get a comprehensive LGBT inclusive policy passed for JCPS..  Trans people were cut out of that policy in committee because of then Supt. Berman's lack of human rights vision.   I was highly pissed off about it at the time and almost dropped our of the effort at that point because I was upset about the trans community getting throw under the political bus again. 

After calming down and promises being made to me and the Louisville trans community that the Fairness led coalition would come back and fight for trans inclusion in the JCPS policy at another time, .I changed my mind and fought hard to get the JCPS trans free policy passed.. 

The trans free policy subsequently passed after three long and contentious public hearings on a 4-3 vote.

On Monday I was alerted by Dawn Wilson that the trans inclusion policy n JCPS I was fighting for passed its first stage JCPS board vote with a 5-2 margin.to take it to the second stage

Linda Duncan, just as in 2007  tried to use all the tools in her oppression handbook, but failed to slow down this policy what should have been adopted 8 years ago had Berman and the board listened to me and the coalition then..   Duncan along with board member Chuck Haddaway opposed it.

Rounds two and three are coming up, and I expect Frank Simon, Jerry Stephenson and the rest of the merry band of suburban haters will be loading up the buses to stick their nose in JCPS human rights business soon.