For my final subject and end of the semester topic. I chose to research and speak about the very broad subject gender fluidity. We were supposed to choose a topic that we are passionate about and that pertains to the class, like something that has to do with a group of people or subject that involves the performative or the repressed. Therefore, I chose gender fluidity. Gender fluid people are often just as segregated and suppressed at those who deal with issues like racism and other minoritizing categories. Like race, the gender fluidity is very broad and contains many different people and many different categories of people.
Therefore it is so important to be inclusive. Today the typical “female and male roles” do not fit anymore, for example, there are women in STEM, which was originally seen as a male dominated and male ran profession category. Then on the other side, there are male fashion designers and male makeup artist, when originally makeup was seen as a feminine thing for women. Now that the lines have meshed and gender fluidity is so common, it may be hard for people to understand what it means for a person to be gender fluid or what exactly they identify with. Within the wide umbrella of gender fluidity, there is gender-fluid, genderqueer, non-binary, agender, bigender, pangender, androgynous, neutrois, and demigender. All of which should be equally excepted and accommodated by society.
Although some still have an issue with addressing people and identifying a person as anything different from their looks or assigned sex from birth. But I like to explain this and relate this to when a person prefers to be called a different name. Say a man’s name is Michael, but they feel more feminine and decide that they want to be identified as she or her. So, Michael decides to change her name to Mikey. Or another example could be a woman who feels that her name just doesn’t represent how she feels most days, she still identifies as a female, but often has days where she feels masculine. This is an example of being bigender, so Samantha now becomes Sam. Or, like my good friend and old coworker who is a transgender, he transitioned from Female to male, but primary dresses and presents “feminine energy,” this is often confusing to people, but he is he because that is what he feels and wants to be identified as. As for his name, he used to be named Annabell, but legally changed his name to Andrew and goes by that or Andy. This is just a prime example/easy explanation of how pronouns and gender identity works. Just because people or born with a name on their birth certificate doesn’t mean that a person can’t change or go by a different name. It is the same with gender identity and pronouns, if someone doesn’t feel like a name or identity fits them, they should be able to change it.
So why is this important, why should we be talking about it and what should we be doing? Our target audience and in my opinion the most important group of people are those who are in school K-12. Therefore, I focused my project on what and how schools K-12 in Kansas. It is important for young students in Kansas to be able to express themselves and feel heard in their school systems. We come to the main issue, which is that Kansas school are not doing the best job at accommodating and accepting gender fluid students. Which is what bringing us to the first case, located in Gardner, Kansas, at Gardner Edgerton High School. In this case the School Board voted against the $80,000 funding towards making the school laboratories more inclusive. This funding was also to go towards constructing a special needs restroom. It is sad to say, but when it comes to funding the construction of a new accommodations for the minorities, it seems to always be turned down or underfunded. Speaking from my mom’s point of view, she has worked in the special needs program for eleven years now and has worked almost every position, due to the special needs program being so underfunded and understaffed. This is how I feel that Kansas has treated the LGBTQ+ community. But the reason the board said they denied the proposition, is the concern that forcing the students to use the unisex restrooms would cause “needless emotional stress.” Also, that it would also make way for predators to and other terrible things to happen in these restrooms. But I do not agree with this idea for two main reasons. The first that the students would not be required to use the unisex restrooms, there would still be a women’s and men’s restroom. The unisex restroom is just there for those who do not feel comfortable going in either men or women. Secondly, the scare of predators is not very realistic, especially since random strangers and adults are not allowing to just walk in or walk around any K-12 school. The purpose of these restrooms is to be inclusive and make students who may not identify with a gender or look different than their gender feels comfortable when using private areas.
The second case I will be discussing is from Fort Riley, Kansas, at Fort Riley Middle School. Pamela Ricard was suspended from her 16-year position as a teacher at the middle school. She was suspended during April of 2021 for not addressing a young student by their preferred pronouns. Instead of accepting the student as who they would like to be and how they would like to be addressed, Ricard referred to the student as “miss.” Due to this Ricard was suspended, but just recently in March of 2022 Ricard began to sue the school district. Ricard says the school district violated her constitutional right of freedom of religion. She as a Christian believes that there are only two genders, and she believes it is her right to practice and express her religion. But there are two issues with this, the first is that K-12 public schools are not allowed to press religious expressions on students and the second issue is her right does not cover harming other people in any other way.
Now let’s look at another state and see what progressive ways look like in a school setting. We will be looking at California as a state, and specifically Los Angeles Unified School District. At one of the elementary schools in Los Angeles is Skye Tooley. Tooley identifies as “trans demiboy non-binary” and they think that it is important for students to learn about gender fluidity and gender binary, by incorporating it into their lectures. They taught a lesson on gender fluidity, gender binary and pronouns. They used cute stuffed animals to get the students attentions and show that it doesn’t matter what you look like to be called he, she or they. It is about how you feel. I think this is a great way for the kids to learn and be accepting of each other.
In conclusion, Kansas K-12 school have not been the most inclusive when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community and gender fluidity. And if this continues, I think it will greatly affect the development of our younger generation and the overall positive progression of Kansas. So, what should Kansas do next? I think Kansas should be looking up to states like California that are uncooperating gender fluidity and different pronouns into the classroom. The most important thing in the classroom is for the students to feel comfortable, accepted, heard and represented in their schools no matter what the identify as or what they look like. Every student must be treated equally and positively.
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