In the wake of controversy over school vouchers, fights over
appropriate curriculum, and the endless battles to decide whether
school funding is adequate, the nation's public and private
schools certainly have their share of problems to overcome. It is
no wonder that issues pertaining to transgender students
haven't received much press before now. But, with more openness
in today's society regarding gender identity, sexual
orientation, same-sex marriage, and the like, public and private
schools are going to see more of these issues in both the employee
and student arenas.
Last summer, the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) found
that a public school district near Colorado Springs discriminated
against six-year old Coy Mathis, a transgender student, when it
refused to allow the child, a biological male, to use the
girls' restroom at the elementary school. Even more recently,
the State of California brought those issues to national headlines
when it became the first
