The Massachusetts Department of Education recently issued a comprehensive set of guidelines for respecting transgender youth in schools, including using the names and pronouns they’ve chosen for themselves and allowing them to use the appropriate restrooms. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly is not happy about it, and in an epic rant captured by Equality Matters, complained to Monica Crowley and Alan Colmes that the policy violates parents’ rights. His bloviating was rife with ignorant stereotypes about what it even means to be trans — including jokes about name changes — and he offered no compassion whatsoever for the actual experience of trans youth:

COLMES: There has to be some confidentiality. Some students don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about issues like this. This isn’t as if you wake up some day and Jane says, “Call me John,” or vice versa. [...]

O’REILLY: The parents should be shut out of this whole process? They shouldn’t know anything that’s going on?… Here’s how insane you are and this whole thing is, and this is truly madness, ladies and gentlemen. You’re telling me that a kid can go to a public school in Massachusetts, immediately upon entering the school take off the kid’s shirt and put on a dress, alright, go to the girls’ room when he’s a boy, and then change his name from John to Tiffany, and then after school, put the shirt back on, go home, and he’s still John. [...]

COLMES: Sometimes a child needs the ability to have a confidential conversation with someone not in the family.

O’REILLY: There’s a difference between a conversation and a lifestyle. That’s such a violation of parental rights by the state of Massachusetts. It’s off the chart violation.

Watch it:

It’s unfortunate O’Reilly wasn’t interested in Colmes’ voice of reason about “protecting the dignity” of trans young people, because his goal seems to be quite the opposite. As Carlos Maza thoughtfully explains, gender identity is largely inflexible, and students aren’t allowed to casually change their gender or claim to be transgender for inappropriate reasons. What is important is making sure that trans students feel safe and included, because it’ll have a profound impact on their ability to excel in the learning environment. Similarly, if they don’t feel safe identifying to their parents, outing them only risks opening them to rejection, one of the primary reasons LGBT youth are disproportionately homeless.

The basic goal of these guidelines is to protect trans students, but O’Reilly makes it clear he doesn’t know the first thing about them.

Whether or not to have a straights-only prom has embroiled Indiana’ Northeast School corporation in a national controversy, particularly because of the comments made by special education teacher Diana Medley. Not only does she believe being gay is a choice influenced by “life circumstances,” but she doesn’t even believe gay people have any sort of purpose in life. Last week, Northeast Superintendent Mark A. Baker defended Medley’s right to free speech, apparently offering no concern about the potential harm to students by such comments. Given the controversy has not died down, it seems Medley has now been placed on administrative leave and the school has also increased security measures, according to a new statement from Baker:

As many of you know and appreciate, our school corporation is continuing to manage as responsibly and respectfully as possible the fallout from comments made by an employee as she attended a meeting outside of school or a school activity.

We have conveyed our disappointment and our disagreement with these statements and have emphasized her comments do not reflect our schools’ views or opinions.

The administration and one school employee in particular at North Central Jr/Sr High School have received aggressive email messages. We are turning over to law enforcement all such communications. Further, and as a precaution, the Indiana State Police and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department have deemed it necessary to station an officer at our high school. Additionally, these law enforcement agencies, while they are here, are familiarizing themselves with our buildings, as is part of their regular training.

For that, we are grateful for their support of our school and our students. This matter has created some heartbreaking differences in opinion. Please know we are always going to put the safety of our students and faculty first and any disruption of our educational process will be managed quickly.

In response to our concerns for the safety and security of everyone in our buildings, we have placed the employee at the center of this concern on administrative leave.

It’s unfortunate that safety has become a concern at the school, but it’s also disappointing that the school has not taken any responsibility for the impact of Medley’s comments on students. From this statement, it seems Medley’s suspension is only for her own safety and not to protect students from her very negative message of rejection. Though the district is to be commended for distancing itself from her remarks, it’s not clear that administrators have taken any steps to improve (or even assess) the climate for LGBT students.

The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition marching for equality.

The Massachusetts Department of Education issued new guidance on Friday for how to respect transgender students and ensure their full safe inclusion in schools. The new directives reflect a 2011 law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and take a comprehensive look at the experience of trans people in the education system. Here are some of the recommendations:

• Respect students when they determine their own gender identity.
• Use the names and pronouns students have chosen for themselves.
• Protect the confidentiality of students’ identities in their records, making sure only to disclose a student’s identity when it will benefit the student.
• Adjust gender markers on student records to reflect students’ gender identities.
• Ensure students can access the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that correspond with their gender identity.
• Provide a safe alternative to sex-segregated restrooms, such as a single “unisex” restroom or nurse’s restroom.
• Work with students who feel uncomfortable having a trans student in their restroom or locker room to help foster their understanding of gender identity and a culture of respect and values.
• Allow students to participate in physical education and athletic activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity.
• Adjust dress codes, including for events like prom and graduation, to be gender-neutral.
• Incorporate education and training about trans and gender non-conforming into anti-bullying curriculum, students leadership trainings, and staff professional development.
• Help families and the community understand what it means to have a school with policies that are inclusive of gender identity.

Conservatives are already complaining that bathrooms need to remain segregated by genetic sex, but education department spokesman JC Considine explained that school restrooms are not public accommodations:

CONSIDINE: We’re talking about the use of school facilities by students who have no choice but to be in a school building. Kids have to have restroom access.

Indeed, kids need to have an environment where they can be respected for who they are, and these guidelines provide for just that.

Today is National Gay-Straight Alliance Day, an opportunity to celebrate the work that GSAs are doing in middle schools, high schools, and on university campuses across the country to create safe learning environments for LGBT students. Increasing the visibility of these 3,000+  groups is essential to ensuring their efforts reach as many students as possible:

Violence and discrimination against LGBT students is the rule, not the exception, in American schools. It is a national disgrace that students feel threatened in school simply because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.  While Americans need to know that thousands of students each day go to school or college and endure LGBT violence and harassment, they must also know that GSAs are a tool in helping end violence and that these student groups save lives.

Indeed, research has shown that LGBT students at schools with a GSA hear fewer homophobic marks, experience less victimization, and generally feel safer. Even the mere presence of a club can help mitigate students’ depression and improve the likelihood they’ll succeed in college.

Show your support for GSA Day by standing up against bullying:

This week, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network released a new study evaluating the effectiveness of implementing LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in schools. Previous studies have already shown that having an inclusive curriculum helps make schools safer for LGBTQ students, but this study shows that other factors can impact just how effective the inclusive classes can be.

For example, if teachers do not have the proper resources, including professional development, supplemental instructional materials, or updated textbooks, the LGBTQ curriculum was more difficult to implement. This is especially true in the absence of administrative and community support, requiring teachers to shoulder the burden of the materials to implement the lessons. Though California’s FAIR Education Act is now law, schools there have not taken the necessary steps to produce the new resources. In addition, the study found that LGBTQ-inclusive curricula that are implemented school-wide across multiple subject areas had a much bigger impact than curricula introduced in just one class.

The study concludes that more must be done to study the impact and implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, recruit a coalition of stakeholders to support that implementation, and provide the tools and resources necessary to do so. Read the full study.