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20 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators

Which Bathroom and Beyond:

The Gender Revolution in

Schools

By Barbara Perry-Sheldon

his article continues a series initiated by members of the Bulletin’s editorial board. The goal
Tof the series is to provide insight on a topic related to the theme of the issue. Here, editorial
board member Perry-Sheldon provides an overview of issues related to transgender students and
suggests several resources for those interested in the topic.

“When a child is born, instead of saying ‘it’s a baby,’ we lift them up and declare ‘it’s a
boy’ or ‘it’s a girl.’ In an instant, a child’s gender identity, orientation, life experiences, sexual
behaviors and social interactions have been painted upon them by societal expectations
and standards. The truth is, people are more complex than that” (Harrington, 2016, p. 1).
The purpose of this article is to describe gender identity briefly, share some of the school
and societal issues being debated, and provide resources that may be helpful to educators
who wish to know more about meeting the needs of questioning or transgender students
they encounter.

Introduction
“To a degree unimaginable a decade ago, the intensely personal subject of gender
identity has entered the public square” (Henig, 2017, p. 56) and into our K-12 classrooms.
America was fascinated as Olympian Bruce Jenner transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner, and
many watched Chaz Bono—singer Cher’s daughter Chastity, who now identifies as
male—appear on the popular TV show Dancing with the Stars. Once considered binary
(either male or female, still the way most identify), today’s definition of gender identity is
evolving and has expanded to include “a deeply felt sense of being a man, a woman, or a
gender that is both, fluid, or neither” (Henig, 2017, p. 58). Steinmetz (2017) noted that
a sense of identity as a woman or a man and to whom one is attracted are “distinct. But
they are related, and together, they’re undergoing a sea change, as an increasing number of
people say they aren’t one or the other but perhaps neither or maybe both” (p. 50).
The January 2017 issue of National Geographic was devoted to the discussion of the
gender revolution. On the cover was a quote from and a picture of 9-year-old Avery Jackson
from Kansas City, Missouri, a transgender girl who spent her first 4 years as a boy and has
since lived as a girl: “The best thing about being a girl is, now I don’t have to pretend to be
a boy.” Transgender describes people whose gender identity does not match the biological
sex assigned to them at birth, and typically by age three children become aware of their
gender identity (Henig, 2017).
That there are transgender persons is not new. What are new are the current
prominence in media and in books, new discoveries in science related to development, and
the increasing numbers of individuals exploring their gender identity. Although surveys
(Steinmetz, 2017) indicate that more individuals, millennials and others, are accepting of