A lively debate around gender identity at school agitates the Portuguese public option and the political class. A new directive allows adolescents over 16 to choose their WCs (men or women) from the start of the school year according to their sexual identity. More broadly, the measure allows transgender students to declare their gender change, specifies International mail who reports the information. In addition to choosing their toilet, the adolescents concerned will be able to wear the girl or boy uniform they want according to the declared gender and use their new first name in class.
The directive, initiated by the socialist government, stems from a law passed last year that aims to combat discrimination against transgender people.
Problem, this measure is causing much ink to flow within the Portuguese political class. Among the opponents, some point to the risk of stigma and bullying it could cause among transgender adolescents. The Secretary of State for Education, Joao Costa, justifies this legislation by the need to protect transgender children. The directive “is not a directive on toilets, it is a directive on the protection of children,” he told TSF radio in Portugal, in response to certain headlines in the Portuguese press referring to a ” WC war “.
A similar debate in the United States
The controversy has also won over civil society, which is also divided on the issue. A petition opposing this directive was signed by 32,000 people.
For its part, the national association of school directors recommends that the application of this measure be done gradually in the establishments.
It is difficult to know how many transgender adolescents will be affected since there are no official statistics in Portugal, recalls the Associated Press reported by Boston25news.
In the United States, a similar debate around the choice of toilets by transgender identities in schools took place in 2016, under the Obama era. The president spoke in favor of recognizing the rights of transgender students. A discussion to which his successor Donald Trump cut short by leaving it to States and schools to decide. In the field of health, an Obamacare clause which protected transgender students has also been repealed.
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