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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 26, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Trans student wins in Mass. court

By Leslie Feinberg

A transgender high school student--identified as "Pat Doe" in court records--won a groundbreaking victory in a Massachusetts Superior Court on Oct. 11. The court ruled that the Brockton School Department could not carry out punitive actions against the youth for wearing clothing the school principle considered to be for girls only.

The student, born male-bodied, has reportedly identified openly in school as female for more than two years. Although widespread media coverage in the state pending the court decision was salacious and often viciously transphobic, the news accounts admitted that Doe had won warm support from many of the female students and a segment of parents.

One parent, however, boasted to reporters that she had given her son permission to beat up Pat Doe if the trans student accosted her son. Making the oppressed out to be the aggressor--the oppressor--has long been a cowardly cover for blatant bigotry. But the need to mask this hatemongering as defensive also demonstrates the growing social consciousness and solidarity that the trans liberation movement is winning.

This progressive court decision--rendered by a judicial system that continues to be an instrument of repression against oppressed people--is a reflection of that growing social support.

The ruling stated that trans students need the same protection that other students need. And it added, "exposing children to diversity at an early age serves the important social goals of increasing their ability to tolerate differences" and teaches "respect for everyone's unique personal experience."

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders brought Pat Doe's case to court. GLAD Staff Attorney Jennifer Levi, who argued the case, commented after the ruling: "As the first reported decision addressing the rights of a transgender student to express her gender identity at school, it is tremendously important. This case confirms that a school may not exert its authority over a student simply to enforce stereotyped ideas of how boys and girls should look."

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