Utah educators have been rushing to prepare students and staff as the state starts cracking down on any public school found not enforcing new bathroom restrictions for transgender individuals.
Bonneville Elementary School 5th grader Graham Beeton, is interviewed during a block party supporting trans and non binary students and staff Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. Utah will become the latest state to implement restrictions for transgender people using school bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government-owned buildings when key components of a law passed by the Republican controlled Legislature take effect May 1.
Legislators left it up to each school district to decide how it will communicate the changes. Some have held classroom presentations. Others have sent home fact sheets or met privately with families who might be affected. The law requires schools to create “privacy plans” for those who do not feel comfortable using group bathrooms, but Graham Beeton, 11, said such accommodations can be isolating. The Salt Lake City fifth grader, who uses he/they pronouns, said he feels loved by his classmates and does not understand why the government cares which bathroom he uses.
Draped in an LGBTQ+ pride flag with rainbows painted on his cheeks, Beeton beckoned his classmates to a block party held just across the street from Bonneville Elementary School on Monday afternoon. With teachers in all Salt Lake City schools set to present about the bathroom law, his mom and many other parents pulled their kids out early and threw a party in support of affected students and staff.
Fourth grade students Lila and Sophia left the presentation confused about why the law existed and worried that it might make some of their peers feel bad about themselves. They were told to approach a teacher with any questions about which bathroom they should use and to report instances of bullying, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by The Associated Press.
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