The Clark County School District Board of Trustees postponed a vote Thursday on a controversial gender diverse policy.
The vote would have allowed trustees to direct staff to write a policy which protects transgender and gender diverse students from harassment and bullying. The policy hasn't even been drafted yet, but some parents are already worried.
"How are they going to protect the children when you have a female going in to a male locker room and although she feels like a male and wants to be a male, there's still males in there that you can't protect her from," said Jodie Page, a mother of three students enrolled in CCSD.
Under a new law, the Nevada Department of Education must create a similar gender diverse policy which CCSD would have to adhere to anyway. Some parents think that policy will be sufficient so CCSD shouldn't draft its own.
So many people attended the school board meeting Thursday that extra seats were set up in the lobby. When those seats filled up, a crowd formed outside.
"To tell students that they are not allowed to be themselves is one more incredibly harmful thing that we add," said Flynn Dexter, a former CCSD teacher who supports the policy. "These students exist so we might as well love them."
The vote was postponed because of concerns over open meeting laws. Some trustees wanted every member of the public to be inside the building taking part in the discussion. The issue will be addressed at a later meeting in a larger venue, according to Trustee Deanna Wright.
