Panelists answered the following: Do you support a new California law allowing transgender students to choose the bathroom and athletic teams of the sex with which they identify?
Marty Richman: “No, as currently fashioned it simply makes no sense. Sexual identity can be a serious psychological issue, especially in young people. Before a minor is identified as transgender they should get a professional diagnosis and there need to be provisions for privacy concerns. The other issue is that at certain ages male and female physical development is so different that mixing them on the athletic field is blatantly unfair.”
Ruth Erickson: “Many people would feel uncomfortable not knowing if the person next to them in a locker room was of the opposite sex.”
Richard Herrera: “I have gone back and forth on this one. I do not but I suggest schools provide separate restrooms for those students.”
Mary Zanger: “Yes. I understand that to change sexual identity is one huge difficult step in our unforgiving misunderstanding society. Our culture at least can support an individual fighting to be who they are. For adequate privacy closed stalls already exist in both men’s and women’s bathrooms. Additionally gifted athletes exist in both genders. Athleticism is more than sex defined. Vision, coordination, responsiveness and joy also make an athlete.”
