At its first reading on Tuesday evening, St. Paul Public Schools’ proposed gender inclusion policy was well received, despite threats by conservative Christian organizations to oppose the policy.

Seven students, staff, and community members spoke in support as the St. Paul Board of Education debuted the policy which has four key points:

1. Respect all students’ gender identity and gender expression by honoring the right of students to be identified and addressed by their preferred name and pronoun.
2. Prohibit, within academic programming, the separation of students based upon gender unless it serves as a compelling pedagogical (instructional) tool.
3. Permit all students to participate in co-curricular and extracurricular activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity including, but not limited to, intramural and interscholastic athletics.
4. Provide all students access to facilities that best align with students’ gender identity.

At Tuesday’s meeting, student Holly Montemayor recounted being bullied and singled out:

“It didn’t help matters that kids were merciless. They bullied me every single day. I had no friends. I was only 5 years old. Some of the teachers would join in telling kids not to talk to me because I was a bad influence,” Montemayor said. “I cannot help but think that if a transgender inclusive policy was implemented back then, teachers would be held responsible for their actions.”

Montemayor added, “By enacting these inclusive policies, we can help young children who are gender variant or transgender feel safe and accepted so that they don’t feel the need to take their lives like so many before them.”

Jess Banks, who has children in SPPS who are transgender, said, “I’m here to speak in favor of the gender inclusion policy because every child in St. Paul Public Schools deserves to learn in an environment of safety and dignity.”

Zander Danielson Sellie, a former SPPS student who has a transgender sibling told the board, “This policy is important to me and it is important to people I know.”

SPPS nurse Pat McPeak said she came to the meeting to “speak strongly in favor of an inclusion policy. I see people regularly with broken hearts.”

She said the policy “would go a long way in helping our students be aware of the need to be kind and inclusive with each other” and would provide important information for transgender students. “It is so hard as a transgender student to know what to do.”

The Rev. John Hierlinger, a Lutheran pastor, has a transgender child. He said the policy “would help families like ours more safely navigate” the school environment and “send a message that they belong and are included.”

He added, “We want a school experience where all children thrive and succeed.”

Allison Yocum of Transforming Families Minnesota said, “There should be an equal experience for every student and that means transgender and non transgender alike.”

Yocum told the board that passing the policy would have ripple effects throughout the region.

“Passing this would send a message to kids all across Minnesota and the Midwest saying, ‘You are affirmed. You are accepted.’ And that is critical. Each little piece we can chip away at
to normalize our children is very important.”

Roxanne Anderson of OutFront Minnesota praised the policy. “This policy affirms their identities. It tells transgender students that they belong… We feel that this policy does a good job of getting to the point of letting students identify the way they identify.”

Anderson said the policy would “ensure that no student is excluded.”

Later in the meeting, the policy was presented by Ryan Vernosh, the district’s policy administrator who explained why the policy is needed. “We don’t want to have random acts of gender equity across our school district. We want to have systems in place that honor and protect the rights of all students.”

The Minnesota Family Council, an anti-LGBT group, sent an email to supporters earlier in the week urging them to attend the meeting, but no one showed up to speak against the policy at Tuesday’s meeting.

The policy will be heard by the board at two more meetings before it can be passed. It appears to have the support of the majority of board members.