For three hours, a crowd chanted outside the meeting of Middletown’s Board of Education, protesting what they called anti-trans rule changes up for a vote inside. The rally on Tuesday night mirrored protests in Marlboro and Manalapan. All three school boards ultimately voted to adopt revised policy provisions that would in effect “out” trans students to their parents.
But first, debate raged for hours. Proponents argued for parental notification. “I’m tired of the government and other people trying to co-parent with me. Don’t you tell me what’s right for my family,” said one woman. A father of four sons said, “If my four boys reveal … they want to be a girl, I want to know, so I can be there, so I can help. ”
Middletown amended official state guidance so that if a student requests transition help “such as a name/identity/pronoun change, bathroom/locker room accommodation, or club/sports accommodations … the school district shall notify a student’s parents or guardian…” Opponents called it discriminatory.
“What you want to do is rip away any form of comfort we have,” one student told the board. “Even if your children aren’t telling you about their gender and sexual identity, that speaks volumes about you and not them.” A teacher said, “The proposed revisions to district policy for transgender students unfairly target and discriminate against a group of people who already face heavy marginalization in our community.”
Shawn Hyland, who heads a conservative religious group, says, “There are a number of districts where the school board members are trying to get a vote on these policies. They might have the minority view on the school board so the policy is not coming up for a vote during this current session. I’m sure that’ll be part of local school board elections later on this year.”
Mike Gottesman attended the Middletown meeting. He founded a group supporting trans and LGBTQ rights that helped field last night’s protests and hopes to fight back at the ballot box, as well. He says, “Monmouth County is a hot mess right now … What it’s really about is a concerted, organized, well-funded effort to remove diversity and inclusion from our classrooms.”
The parental notification issue is also in court where the state attorney general obtained an injunction against the Hanover Township Board of Education’s policy, which it says illegally discriminates against trans and LGBTQ students. That policy remains on hold for now, as the case heads for a hearing before New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights.
