The Predator Argument Doesn't Work With Transgender Fifth Graders

by: Autumn Sandeen

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 18:00:00 PM EDT

It's the perpetrator thing. Frankly, many women look at men who are strangers to them as potential predators, and these same women (along with their male protectors) perceive visibly transgender women who use women's public restrooms as potential male rapists. And if these same women (and their male protectors) have female children, they perceive visibly transgender women who use women's public restrooms as potential pedophiles. There's hasn't been any studies that have substantiated or unsubstantiated this fear of crossdressed males abusing women and children in women's public restrooms, but this fear of crossdressed, male, public restroom perpetrators is being used in an attempt to shape public policy on LGBT civil rights and public accommodation legislation -- most recently in Montgomery County, Maryland and Colorado.

But, the predator argument doesn't work very when we're talking about male-to-female transgender fifth graders. A ten or eleven year old who knows her gender identity doesn't match her* natal sex isn't going through the process of a social transition for sexual reasons. And, whether or not adults accept the idea that a fifth grader is self aware enough to understand when her gender identity and natal sex may not match, most are aware that fifth graders aren't public restroom predators. Shannon Garcia and Kim Pearson of TransYouth Family Allies have frequently reminded me that transyouth really are the future key to public understanding of how gender identity in transsexuals isn't directly correlated to sexuality.

So, since the scream of predator won't work for a fifth grander, Mike Heath (of the Christian Civic League (CCL) Of Maine) and his conservative Christian surrogates are now trying to employ a privacy related strategy. Paul Melanson, a grandfather to a student in the same class as the transyouth, has announced he's filing a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) -- which is seen as a first step prior to filing a civil suit in U.S. District Court at Bangor. From the Bangor Daily News article on the lawsuit announcement press conference:

Jasmine Smith, 13, is concerned that next year the fifth-grader at Asa Adams Elementary School who identifies as a girl will be changing in the girls locker room.

At a press conference Monday night in front of the municipal building, the seventh-grader said that because she has seen the fifth-grader in the girls bathroom after school she assumes the student will be allowed to use the girls facilities at Orono Middle School.

"That would be an invasion of the girls' privacy and of my privacy," she said.

Smith acknowledged that no teachers or administrators have told students the fifth-grader would be changing in the girls locker room or using the girls bathrooms at the middle school.

Smith appeared at the press conference called by Paul Melanson of Orono, who formally has objected to the practice of allowing a boy to use the girls bathroom at the school. Melanson said he asked Smith to speak at the press conference to show that although school officials had told him the fifth-grader was using a teachers bathroom, he was using the girls bathroom.

The constitutional right to privacy is the basis right that found abortion legal in Roe v. Wade, so it's an interesting choice of argument for conservative Christians to employ. But even past that it's an interesting argument, the CCL's choise to employ a privacy argument against the transyouth just doesn't appear to resonate with the public in the same way as a predator argument does against older transgender people.

(Below the fold: Excerpts of comments left for the Bangor Daily News article Grandfather plans rights suit over boy using girls bathroom)

- Melanson is not the grandfather of the transgendered child - he is the grandfather of the boy who has been suspended twice for using the girls' bathroom. He encouraged his grandson to use the girls' facilities! As I understand it the transgendered child has been allowed to use alternative facilities. To those who don't understand how this child can know which gender she is supposed to be - when did you know? Did you think about it or did you just know. I feel bad for Melanson's grandson - children aren't born with intolerance - they are taught it. As for the petition to repeal equal rights - Is this the way Maine should be?

- i'm literally speechless that mr. melanson is going to such great lengths to hear himself talk. he needs to step back and put this into perspective. this is a child- a person. and a very nice child at that. she (yes she, not he) has a wonderful family who, unlike melanson, are not using their child as a pawn. while the situation is complicated, melanson is only making things worse. to top it off, this article is very one sided and missing some very important information. you CANNOT simply brush by the fact that this child identifies them self as a girl- the general public has no idea what that means. more research needs to be done to make this an turely informative piece. you're doing the entire community a disservice by putting melanson in the paper... he doesn't deserve the space... he's playing us all like an orchestra of fiddles, with his grandson (unfortunately) sitting first chair.

- Paul Melanson needs to butt out. His interest in getting his grandson and the Smith girl involved in this is pretty sketchy.

- WOW..this is pathetic to say the least. Especially on the part of the grandfather, just goes to show you can cause a fuss and get attention over ANYTHING now adays. Get a grip and leave the poor kid (yes, KID: boy or girl) alone. I hear there are much more terrible things in the world that we could be giving our attention to....

- gosh I love it when adults use children as their political pawns.

- Miss Smith should be taught to speak for herself, not for all of the girls of Orono Middle School in general. My daughter and I are concerned as well, but I sometimes wonder if she has more to worry about from some of the other girls than this child who wants to be a girl. Shame on you, Mr. Melanson, for not teaching your grandson about tolerance and for making him believe he must have what everyone else has or do what everyone else is doing. Why not teach your grandson to be a leader, think for himself, and be kind? I've taught my child that she doesn't have to like everyone, but she must be kind. I've also taught her that she doesn't have to do what everyone else is doing. God Bless the teachers and staff of Asa Adams for their kindness and their willingness to find a solution. God Bless the child's parents for the inner struggles they must face daily. My husband and I are not sure exactly how we feel about this. We don't really like it, but we would like to learn and understand. We also trust the staff of Orono Middle School to find a solution that meets ALL the children's needs. Needs, Mr. Melanson, not I want or I deserve, but I need. Like it or not, privacy, comfort, and trust are things children need.

- Michael Heath says a 12 year-old boy is not receiving same rights as another student. Yet he wants to repeal the same rights law which was passed some years ago. Heath's double standards shows his non-christian beliefs. Let's face it people, Heath is not a Christian and is the face of evil.

- You obviously have nothing better to do than make more trouble for this transgender child than she is already dealing with Mr. Melanson. To pull your grandson into your silly game is irresponsible too. Do you also teach your grandson to kick the child he's beating up when he's on the ground? Have you even thought about what this might be doing to this child who didn't ask to be different? Or are you too busy thinking about your own financial gain?

- These people should be ashamed of themselves! I hope I go to the Lord before Michael Heath does so I can witness the Lord chastising him and sentencing him to hell for all his evil doings on Earth! I can only find solace knowing he and I won't share the after life together!

- I think people are starting to overreact a bit. Wouldn't a better option be to create a single-facility gender neutral bathroom that anyone can use? All of this attention, media or otherwise, is just going to confuse the children more and teach them that hate is okay.

- You have to be kidding! Good job wasting the court systems time. These people need more to do.

- First off, unless students take a bath in the room, then it's not a bathroom. If it's not in the cellar, then it's not a basement. The fact of the matter is that these people are fighting over a toilet. Why is this Jasmine allowed to use a restroom in a school that she doesn't even go to? There are girls and women who are aroused by other girls and women, too. Sounds like a wide open sexually unsafe area to me. So, now Melanson, his grandson and Heathen all want to use the girl's toilet, too. Will someone please tell them that they can continue to sit down to urinate in a men's room, and if it's done in a private stall with the door closed, and locked then nobody will even know the difference. Also, have the authorities check Melanson, and Heathen's computers for child pornography. They sound like they are a little too involved in the subject to me!

- The adults involved in this case need to find a new hobby. Leave this poor kid alone.

Even some who are less than supportive of the transyouth are leery of CCL and company...

- I know many teachers at the Asa Adams school. THe administration did a lot to accomidate this student. This is a double edge sword situation. Both sides will end up suing. Also, be careful what you take from this article. A lot of what the Melanson grandson claims why he got suspended is not accurate. Remember, this is a 12 year old kid, whose grandfather has an axe to grind. But i do agree that if this student who thinks HE is a girl was using the girls bathroom, then he should be using the BOYS bathroom or a staff bathroom. Never the girls bathroom! But i know first-hand many facts that were described is this situation were either untrue or extremely over exaggerated.

- While I do share the opinion of others here that at this age it is inappropriate for a child to use a restroom facility not intended for his/her gender, I find it interesting that any time there is any type of disruption/story/scandal that involves sexual orientation or gender identity Michael Heath is called in to throw his useless two cents in. Spewing his typical hatred, and yet applying it now to a situation involving a 12-year old child, he manages to imply that by repealing a law that provides all of the citizens of Maine equal access to basic human rights (ie employment, credit, housing)things will be better, or to use his words like they used to be. If this is what constitutes Christianity, I'm glad that I make the election not to participate in it. Why the people of Maine continue to listen to this man or even consider him to be an authority is beyond me.

- That's the most ridiculous thing I've read in awhile. Both the lawsuit and the boy who identifies as a girl. Come on now.

- Seriously? Ok let's pick on a fifth grade boy now. If this guy gets any amount of money for this it will disgust me. He probably put his grandson up to trying to use the women's bathroom so he could have cause for a lawsuit. It is hard enough for transgender kids to grow up being ridiculed by their classmates. Good for him to be able to be himself at such an early age. I went to school with people who had to pretend to be some one else until they went to college. I would like to think that we live in a much more tolerant society today, but unfortunately that's not the case. Why not a simple solution, create a gender neutral bathroom that every one can use and the boy can feel comfortable using. It's not a surprise that the Maine Christian Civic league is involved with this. I really don't think that intolerance and discrimination are part of god's plan, but the Maine Christian Civic League hasn't caught on to that yet.

When conservative Christians can't paint a particular transgender person's use of a public women's restrooms in terms of predatory behavior -- such as with this particular fifth grader -- their arguments just don't seem to resonate with the general public as well. That tells me that if LGBT activists could slice the legs off the predator argument, we'd be more sucessful with the general public in arguing for fully inclusive civil rights and public accommodation legislation.

H/t: Dawn

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Endnote:
* Use of female pronouns are used throughout this piece to refer to transgender youth because the specific fifth grader in question is a male-to-female transgender youth. There are female-to-male transgender youth too, so it would have equally as accurate to have used male pronouns throughout this piece, or a combination of both male and female pronouns (as in "him and her," "he and she," etc.) to refer to transgender youth.

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Related:
* Mike Hein and Freepers Attack 11-Year-Old Transgendered Boy In Orono, Maine
* White Male Privilege & Women's Fear Of Crime Intersecting With Gender Expression & Public Restrooms
* When It Comes To Transgender People & Civil Rights, It Really Is Always About The Bathroom
* According To CitizenLink/Focus On The Family, There's "A New Type Of Predator" -- Men In Dresses
* If Dr. Dobson Were King, We'd All Be Wearing Depends

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