The school board for Township 211, on Dec. 2, voted to accept a proposed agreement with the Office of Civil Rights ( OCR ) for the Department of Education which would allow a transgender student in suburban Palatine access to the locker room facilities of the gender with which she identifies.
Note: See later coverage, Controversy continues over Palatine trans student decision 2015-12-04, at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Controversy-continues-over-Palatine-trans-student-decision-/53598.html .
Details about the agreement were slow to emerge, but American Civil Liberties Union - Illinois officials said, in a statement released the afternoon of Dec. 3, that the student would be allowed to use the girl's locker room with or without her own private area, and that the agreement applied to all students.
The board deliberated on the matter for three hours, after hearing two hours of public comments, according to reports. After reaching a decision, statements from the board suggested that the student would only be able to change in a designated part of the locker room, and that the policy only applied to her.
OCR officials clarified Dec. 3, however, that the student could exercise any degree of privacy that she wished, and that the policy applied to everyone.
"On behalf of our client and her family, we are pleased that the Department of Education has affirmed that District 211 must provide a safe and respectful environment for all students, including those who are transgender," said John Knight, director of ACLU - Illinois' LGBT & HIV Project. "Although we are disappointed in the District's efforts to misrepresent the nature of the agreement, we encourage its leadership to seize this moment, and to help residents and students in District 211 to learn about the discrimination and harassment facing transgender men and women and encourage fairness and tolerance for all persons, including those who are transgender.