Fear Mongers

I knew this was going to happen when I saw the headline about the Massachusetts policy on gender variant students…

Concerns over transgender-students policy
Legislators seek focus on anatomy in the use of segregated facilities
Sentinel and Enterprise
By Allison Thomasseu,
Posted:   03/04/2013

BOSTON -- Area legislators, unhappy with a plan to allow transgender public-school students to choose which gender bathrooms and locker rooms to use, have met with Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to push for a policy that defines a student's gender on anatomy, not self-identification, when using sex-segregated facilities.
[…]
The lawmakers are also backing a bill sponsored by Garry that would dictate a change in the rules.

Garry said the Legislature discussed the issue in 2011 as part of the debate over the anti-discrimination law, but left the facilities issue out because it could violate other students' privacy.

"The (2011) bill was not to accommodate locker rooms and bathrooms, but the commissioner took it upon himself to provide guidance to schools," Garry said.
[…]
Rep. Sheila Harrington, R-Groton, said the legislators discussed adding separate facilities, such as teacher bathrooms, for students who feel uncomfortable using bathrooms because of a gender issue.

I saw this coming, it seems like the more success that we have, the more the opposition pushes back and it bring out the fear mongers and doomsday sayers. The truth is that it is the gender variant students who are being bullied and harassed. GLSEN 2011 study on school climate found that…

• 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% reported being physically harassed and 18.3% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 6 in 10 LGBT students (63.5%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation; and 4 in 10 (43.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• Transgender students experienced more hostile school climates than their non-transgender peers - 80% of transgender students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression.

Studies have shown that students who are being bullied and harassed have lower grade and  a higher absenteeism that before they were  bullied and harassed. By segregating students who are different from other students we increase the likelihood of them being bullied and harassed.