A group of Michigan parents have filed a civil rights lawsuit against Vicksburg Community Schools for allowing students and staff to use bathrooms based on their “gender identity.”
The 37-page federal lawsuit accuses the district of Title IX and civil rights violations, according to a report from local station WWMT.
According to the report, school officials told children not to embarrass the biological male student but to “tolerate it, look away and not bully them.”
The parents argue that the policy is discriminatory and deprives their daughters of privacy.
The lawsuit claims that girls have been forced to watch biological boys strip naked.
“We used to joke with our kids, we loved Vicksburg Public Schools so much we wanted to have a third just to send them through the school system, but our decision may be changing a bit based on some of the decisions in our district,” a woman identified only as “Heather” said at a school board meeting earlier this month, according to the report. She is the mother of a Vicksburg graduate, high schooler, and first grader.
Her opinion of the district changed after she was informed by one of her children that male students were using the girls’ bathrooms.
“Many female students are using the bathroom only one time a day out of fear and anxiety that a male student could be using the bathroom with them,” Heather said.
Matthew DePerno, who represents the families, told the station that the school district is not being transparent about the policy.
“The principal told them there is nothing they can do about it,” DePerno said. “The issue was settled and told the students to make the best of the situation.”
“The biological males who want to use the girls’ restrooms, in other school districts they are denied that and provided with a unisex bathroom to use,” DePerno continued.
The district claims that they are following the state law and federal guidance.
