KUSD Steps Closer to Transgender Policy

Pete Serzant, WLIP News

KENOSHA, WI (WLIP)–Kenosha Unified is one step closer to having a policy governing the rights and treatment of students who identify as transgender.

The board passed the proposed policy on a 5-0 vote.

Under the new rules, students under 18 would need parental permission to change their name and the pronoun they use or to have access to the facilities of their non-birth gender. Students over 18 would not require parental permission.

The move is meant to head off lawsuits by parents such as ones filed in Madison. That district’s policy did not require parental permission. Advocates say the policy doesn’t go far enough because it might force trans students to come out to their families and put them in a difficult situation.

Supporters of the plan say that parents need to be involved in the situation. This was the first approval required for the policy to go in place. It will come for another vote at a future meeting.