As for slowing advancement of transgender legal rights because too many Americans haven't read the Constitution it wasn't very long ago when gay rights and same sex marriage became law while the majority of Americans of both parties didn't support doing so.
On a somewhat unrelated topic, Nate - do you know about the Aristedes Sousa Mendes Foundation's? He was a Portuguese diplomat in France during WWII who gave Portuguese visas to many to allow them to exit France and go elsewhere via Portugal. After the war, he was stripped of his job and died in poverty because his did the righteous work against the Portuguese government's rules. This is a long intro to what I wanted to say. The Foundation just aired the story of Fred Korematsu who stood up to Japanese internment during WWII. He lost at the Supreme Court then and was sent to a camp. He won his case in the 1980s and received the medal of freedom from Bill Clinton.
Not familiar with the Foundation, but I am with Korematsu. Korematsu's conviction was overturned in 1983. The Supreme Court has not officially overturned its decision but some Justices have criticized it.
Having spent my working life as a public school educator and counselor, I struggled mightily with this one and landed, perhaps for slightly different reasons, in the same spot as you. The pranks pulled in elementary school bathrooms, even with teachers standing right outside to monitor, mean that they would face LOTS of questions about anatomy that skate on the edge of sex ed. When the intro to sex ed starts in 5th grade, parental permission is needed for attendance. If there has been surgery at a later date, that issue becomes moot; however the lack of secondary characteristics then means that the trans teen would be brutally teased and shamed.
The sports issue isn't really relevant until h.s. While wins and losses are less critical for the first two years, by junior year, college scouts show up at those games and their determinations and recommendations are often the key to sports scholarships and a chance at an otherwise financially impossible higher education at a university that also boasts a higher academic standing. Even the exposure that these universities offer to a diverse and richer experience/culture provide opportunities for growth that broaden perspective. Thus the trans teen might well be keeping a less physically powerful cisteen from being chosen. Does this really justify refusing the opportunity to a trans teen? Perhaps for the small percentage you claim is the reality, not really. On the other hand, you only need to look at the cruelty and competitiveness of the booster clubs to know that the trans teen will be ostracized in the meanest possible way.
If the trans child/teen were prepared for the potential ugliness, I might feel differently, but as things stand, I would agree that in these two areas, the battle isn't worth the cost at this point in time.
As for slowing advancement of transgender legal rights because too many Americans haven't read the Constitution it wasn't very long ago when gay rights and same sex marriage became law while the majority of Americans of both parties didn't support doing so.
I agree in part, but where has our rapid advancement on this front gotten us? We are now much further behind than we were.
Recommend Roger Stone's 2017 ''Sex and the Constitution'' for a history of progress even enlightenment if Republicans haven't censored that word.
Thanks - here is a link
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sex_and_the_Constitution_Sex_Religion_an/7DSFDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT13&printsec=frontcover
On a somewhat unrelated topic, Nate - do you know about the Aristedes Sousa Mendes Foundation's? He was a Portuguese diplomat in France during WWII who gave Portuguese visas to many to allow them to exit France and go elsewhere via Portugal. After the war, he was stripped of his job and died in poverty because his did the righteous work against the Portuguese government's rules. This is a long intro to what I wanted to say. The Foundation just aired the story of Fred Korematsu who stood up to Japanese internment during WWII. He lost at the Supreme Court then and was sent to a camp. He won his case in the 1980s and received the medal of freedom from Bill Clinton.
The film is Of Civil Wrongs and Rights.
www.sousamendesfoundation.org
Not familiar with the Foundation, but I am with Korematsu. Korematsu's conviction was overturned in 1983. The Supreme Court has not officially overturned its decision but some Justices have criticized it.
Having spent my working life as a public school educator and counselor, I struggled mightily with this one and landed, perhaps for slightly different reasons, in the same spot as you. The pranks pulled in elementary school bathrooms, even with teachers standing right outside to monitor, mean that they would face LOTS of questions about anatomy that skate on the edge of sex ed. When the intro to sex ed starts in 5th grade, parental permission is needed for attendance. If there has been surgery at a later date, that issue becomes moot; however the lack of secondary characteristics then means that the trans teen would be brutally teased and shamed.
The sports issue isn't really relevant until h.s. While wins and losses are less critical for the first two years, by junior year, college scouts show up at those games and their determinations and recommendations are often the key to sports scholarships and a chance at an otherwise financially impossible higher education at a university that also boasts a higher academic standing. Even the exposure that these universities offer to a diverse and richer experience/culture provide opportunities for growth that broaden perspective. Thus the trans teen might well be keeping a less physically powerful cisteen from being chosen. Does this really justify refusing the opportunity to a trans teen? Perhaps for the small percentage you claim is the reality, not really. On the other hand, you only need to look at the cruelty and competitiveness of the booster clubs to know that the trans teen will be ostracized in the meanest possible way.
If the trans child/teen were prepared for the potential ugliness, I might feel differently, but as things stand, I would agree that in these two areas, the battle isn't worth the cost at this point in time.