A coalition led by the Family Institute of Connecticut and an all-Republican lineup of state lawmakers are pushing for a public hearing on legislation that would restrict the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming students in Connecticut schools.
The Let Kids Be Kids Coalition called on the General Assembly’s Education Committee Wednesday to hold a public hearing on two bills that would require schools to out trans students to their parents and prohibit trans athletes from participating in school sports that match their gender identity.
The proposal comes amid a surge of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation — the ACLU is tracking 400 such bills in 2024. Most call for banning gender-affirming care for minors and barring trans athletes from participating in sports teams matching their gender identity, though many states also have “forced outing in school” proposals.
Connecticut law has established the state as a sanctuary for transgender people, requiring gender-affirming care be covered by health insurers and offering patients and providers the same legal protections as it gave for abortion in the 2022 safe harbor law.
But among Connecticut public schools, policies on how to handle the disclosure of a student’s gender identity vary from district to district.
When it comes to sports, trans students may compete in the class that they identify with, whether that be boys’ or girls’ sports.
If enacted, the “Let Kids Be Kids Act,” would require districts to notify parents within 24 hours if “a school employee becomes aware” that their child has “asserted a gender identity that does not align with the student’s sex. The “Save Women’s Sports Act,” would mandate that trans student-athletes only participate in sports that align with the gender they were assigned at birth.
Proponents of the legislation framed the issues as a fight for parental and women’s rights. LGBTQ+ advocates pushed back on the coalition’s proposals Wednesday, citing their potential to harm trans and gender nonconforming youth.
Parental Notification
While draft language of the “Let Kids Be Kids Act” would require school districts to notify parents if a student becomes involved in several actions from bullying to class disruptions to poor performance to mental distress, Wednesday’s press conference solely focused on the portions of the bill that cover gender identity and expression. Melissa Combs, an activist and parent at the press conference Wednesday called it “discrimination ironically cloaked as anti-bullying legislation.”
Under the proposed legislation, school districts must notify parents within one school day of a student’s request or attempt to “use a name, other than a nickname or recognized diminutive, that differs from the name found in the student record; use pronouns that do not align with the student’s sex; or access sex-separated school programs, activities, or facilities, including athletic teams, competitions, bathrooms, and changing areas, that do not align with the student’s sex.”
In Connecticut schools, students can go by and maintain records with their chosen name and pronouns. In certain districts, policy dictates that school officials must obtain student consent before relaying to parents any information about their child’s gender identity. Others operate on a case-by-case basis. Others lack a policy entirely.
Leslie Wolfgang, director of public policy for the Family Institute of Connecticut, said that when students use one set of pronouns in the classroom and a different set at home, school officials are engaging in an “act of deception.”
“I don’t think teachers consider it fooling. I don’t think they’re trying to undermine the parent-child relationship. But from a parent’s perspective, that is totally what’s happening,” Wolfgang said.
Rep. Karen Reddington-Hughes said that under the status quo, students are “being encouraged to live two separate lives.”
“You’re having parents that can no longer trust the school system because their children are going to school, they’re being told that if they so choose to be different than they are at home, then this is their safe spot to do that. And their parents have no indication or knowledge of what is going on because this goes on during the school day. When the doors close, everything goes back to normal in their household,” Reddington-Hughes said.
Reddington-Hughes and other lawmakers Wednesday spoke against school districts taking on the role of parents.
“It’s very, very important that parents have total control and say about their (children’s) education and what they are doing. Those are the decisions that are left only to the parents and the state should not be interfering with (them),” Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco said. “We don’t co-parent with the government.”
While lawmakers expressed their hope that the legislation would limit the government’s involvement in what they see as family matters, Wolfgang said the bill would allow for more collaboration between schools, students and parents.
Wolfgang said that “instead of trying to maintain a wall of secrecy between the school and the home life,” it would be better for districts “to facilitate a conversation like, ‘We’re going to tell you what’s happening. This is what other parents do, this is how other parents have handled it. Here’s some resources for you.’”
Combs of the Out Accountability Project of Connecticut, who is also the mother of a trans child, said the “Let Kids Be Kids Act” would “force schools into a burdensome process of accommodating the personal, moral, and religious concerns of every parent,” and put teens at risk.
Combs said that if districts engage in discussions that families are not ready for, trans youth can fall victim to abuse, homelessness and human trafficking.
“Like any parent, I want my child to share things with me, and to know what’s happening in their life. I also want to know that even when they may not be ready to share something with me, that they have the support they need at school,” Combs said. “Outing students without their consent forces schools to intrude on family relationships like mine, taking away opportunities for important family conversations. Who invites the government to the dinner table? No one.”
Commenting on the proposal, Jennifer Levi, the senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, said “It’s hard to imagine a worse way to foster supportive communications between children and families than having top-down legislation that interferes with educational professionals’ abilities to support students.”
Levi said school districts carefully weigh the needs and interests of students, parents and families when deciding how, when and if to disclose sensitive information. She emphasized that there is “just not a one-size-fits-all solution.”
“It’s an area where we have to trust educational professionals to do what needs to be done to support students,” Levi said. “The worst solution is to have a law that just dictates what should happen in all circumstances.”
Sports participation
According to the working language of the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” the bill would bar “students of the male sex” from participating in interscholastic and intramural sports teams designated for girls. It also would protect schools that maintain separate teams for “students of the female sex” from complaints, investigation, and “other adverse action.”
Additionally, it would give students and schools who are “deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a school knowingly violating this act … a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the school.”
Coalition members clarified that these requirements would also apply to boys’ sports.
“What we’re asking for is for biological boys to play on boys teams and biological girls to play on girls teams,” Peter Wolfgang, the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut said.
Christina Mitchell, whose daughter was part of a group of athletes that sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for its policy that allows trans female athletes to compete in girls sports, said that female athletes lose titles and opportunities as a result of trans girls participating in women’s sports.
“Twenty-four states have passed laws to protect their female athletes. It is beyond time that Connecticut does the same,” “Women and girls deserve fair competition and safety and sports. At every level.”
Lawmakers said the legislation is necessary to even the playing field in girls’ sports and protect women’s rights.
“Males are born males and females are born females,” Rep. Anne Dauphinais said. “You can try and change that and identify something different, but we know males, for the larger part, are much stronger physically than females. So we are a hundred percent behind this bill.”
Christine Rebstock, a Connecticut woman who identifies as transsexual, said high school sports lack testosterone guidelines and other medical mandates that higher levels of competition require for participation.
Rebstock, who spoke in favor of both of the proposals Wednesday, is the executive director of media and communications for LGBTS United, an organization that describes itself as a group of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transsexuals who are united against the “trans queer ideology movement.”
“When it comes to the college, professional and Olympic level of sports, those are covered by the United States International Olympic Committee as well as the NCAA,” Rebstock said. “High school sports … is by your gender identity.”
Levi said that too often the debate over trans students’ participation in sports gets wrapped into discussions about elite competition.
“The situation for school-based sports is so different than elite sports,” Levi said. “In terms of people pointing to differences in strength or speed, those are group-based average comparisons, they’re not comparisons that work on the individual level. It’s not the case that all transgender students are stronger than or faster than non-transgender students.”
Levi said sports are also vital to students and no child should be denied participation based on their gender identity.
“Kids and young people learn a tremendous amount of life lessons from sports issues around leadership, confidence, self-respect, (and) what it means to be part of a team. And it’s important for all students to have the opportunity to develop those life lessons and those life skills,” Levi said. “There’s no justification for excluding transgender students from participating in sports.”
Combs described the aims of the “Save Women’s Sports Act” as a “costly, unproductive agenda.”
“Laws like these are motivated by a partisan desire to harm a specific segment of the population. The Department of Justice has been clear on these so-called ‘Save Women’s Sports Acts’ they are unconstitutional,” Combs said. “If Connecticut truly wants to support girls’ sports, they would be providing more funding, creating more opportunities to play, and enacting stronger laws that protect female athletes from harassment and abuse — not banning transgender youth from participating in school sports with their peers.”
