West Warwick joins long list of communities rejecting anti-trans hate
"Trans kids are beloved members of our community and they deserve the right to education and participation in sports as much as anyone else in our community..."
Another week, another school committee hearing where community members gathered to speak out against anti-trans extremists. On Wednesday the scene was the West Warwick School Committee, where residents and healthcare providers pushed back against the usual drivel of those touring the state trying to convince school committees to rescind Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) policies crafted to protect transgender, gender diverse, and transitioning students - policies that have worked, without incident, for around seven years.
I cover these meetings not because what the anti-trans crowd says is interesting [it isn’t], but because it is inspiring to see diverse communities across our state pull together and deliver messages of support for our trans and non-binary siblings. In a sense, the worst people in our state are strengthening the resolve of compassionate Rhode Islanders and allowing them to articulate exactly why Rhode Island values gender-diverse lives. These meetings strangely fill me with hope.
The transcript has been edited for clarity:
Anna: I work at Thundermist Health Center in West Warwick. My master's program is in physiology and biophysics and I work for the West Warwick Health Equity Zone. I'm here to speak in support of trans and gender-diverse youth. Good healthcare is a vital part of everyone's life and I think that the availability of that healthcare should be free and open to everyone. Part of living a Healthy Life is being able to be included in a healthy social life.
People should be able to participate in the groups that they want to participate in and exist within the spaces as everyone else, free from discrimination or harm.
Every professional and medical association agrees with me and with my perspectives and there's no reason to upend this. Where's the harm? What harm is being done if people use the bathrooms that they want to use or if people participate in sports? Sports are an important part of our development and an opportunity to grow, learn, and be active with peers. People are better equipped to deal with the real world when they interact with a wide variety of people. So again, I ask you, where's the harm? They're just kids. Let them be kids.
Melissa Bubble: Schools should prioritize the safety and privacy of all students by maintaining clear and separate facilities for boys and girls. Potentially, the new laws that are being discussed allowing individuals in bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex, could lead to uncomfortable or potentially unsafe situations.1 It's crucial to advocate for changes against certain policies like those from RIDE and ensure that every student feels secure and respected, not just those who identify as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth.
As a parent of two boys, I'm concerned about the implications of such laws. It is important to address the potential risks that could arise, including the possibility of boys or girls being targeted inappropriately in the stalls. My concern also extends to my family members with girls who might face similar risks.
There is a reason why there are boy sports and girl sports. Men and boys have different strengths than women and could injure women. I just saw a news article about that, where a woman was beaten very badly in - I believe it was a wrestling sport or something - because [her opponent] was a biological male identifying as a woman. These things should be separate. If that's how they feel - that they're different genders - then there need to be different sports assigned to them so that no one gets overly hurt or worse, permanently injured.
Bella Robinson: I am a resident of West Warwick. I was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, and my little sister was born in 1964 intersex. 1.7% of the global population is intersex. She was transferred from Wakefield Melrose Hospital to Boston General to Johns Hopkins within the first 36 hours of life. She had to have an operation so she could urinate. She was pronounced as a boy but within a few hours, they assigned her as a female. Back in the day, we used language like tomboy and mama's girl because we didn't have the language to explain someone's gender traits, physical appearance, and personality.
My sister was considered a tomboy. My grandmother used to force her to put a dress on to go to church. That traumatized her. While my sister went on to have two children, most likely because she had a uterus - they weren't planned. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if she could have chosen her pronouns and gender? My siblings think that she would've chosen to be a man, a male.
Fear moners who seem to think that allowing children to even know about intersex, non-binary, and transgender people would somehow be contagious and make their children choose this - it is the same hysteria that happened with homosexuality back in the day, where somehow, knowing a gay kid would make your kid gay, and they did everything they could to make sure homosexuals were not accepted by society. They were classified as having a mental health disorder. They were put in mental institutions and forced to have shock treatments and lobotomies. It was the same for "promiscuous" women.
The policing of a woman's body goes back to the 1920s with the government's decade-long plan to imprison promiscuous women and the surveillance of the sexual acts of adults. It made homosexuality a crime until 2003 with Lawrence v. Texas. In more recent years we made conversion therapy illegal because it's extremely abusive, psychologically damaging, and it doesn't work.
For those of you who are Christian fascists, who insist on saying that gender equals sex and feel the need to police people's genders and sexuality, I ask you this, "If God made intersex people, why do you think you have the right to exclude them from society, discriminate against them, and promote stigma and violence against them? And which bathroom would you have assigned my sister?" My sister died on June 19 2024 as a result of her condition.
Heidi Toppel: I've been a West Warwick resident for a year, having moved here from Seattle to be closer to my family. I recently joined the boards of The Womxn Project and the Womxn Project Education Fund, and serve as their treasurer. We're speaking tonight in favor of Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE)’s Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Transitioning Student policy.
While in Seattle, I volunteered as the business manager for Diverse Harmony an LGBTQ Youth Choir that focused on high school students. During my five-year tenure, Diverse Harmony was expanded to include young adults up to age 21. It was designed as a safe space for young people who were out, transitioning, or allies of those youth who would come and share their love of music with their love for one another. Diverse Harmony put on at least two concerts per year, which were always received joyously and were very successful fundraising events.
My job was more than bookkeeping and maintaining donor communications. It included planning and hosting events like the Halloween Party and participation in Seattle's Pride Parade, which is a huge deal in that city. It also included, which seems pretty minor but to me was the most important part of the job, hosting the weekly 20-minute break for snack time during rehearsals. For me, this time was very revealing. I'd hear conversations about the challenges and successes of transitioning; their challenges with their family members, their teachers, and their fellow students at school; and their challenges about food and housing insecurity. I would pack to-go boxes of the remaining snacks for the youth to take home. I'd give them a warm smile from a grandma type who cared about them. The common theme of the snack time chatter was challenges. These children and young adults were faced with huge obstacles in their daily lives.
I learned firsthand about the fragility of these young people, the fragility of their lives, their views on living, and their hopes for tomorrow. It must be overwhelming to know, usually from an early age, that you're attracted to same-sex partners or identifying as a sex opposite to the one assigned at birth when the word tells you that this is deviant behavior. These self-revelations don't come from a book, a movie, or adult indoctrination. They come from within. They're a siren call to be true to oneself.
Our children and young adults here in Rhode Island experience the same challenges, fragility, and obstacles - layered with the hate and fear-mongering from various political and religious groups. Their mental well-being is being negatively impacted by political discussions and debates over their basic human rights. I learned firsthand that these youth are not sexual predators, deviants, or evil people. The school committee needs to endorse and uphold RIDE's transgender, gender diverse, and transitioning student policy and we need to come to the aid of our trans and LGBTQ youth. Thank you for hearing me and for the important work that you do.
Tammy Brown: I want to thank you all for following RIDE's policy for gender-diverse youth and for protecting gender-diverse youth. As someone who does a lot of work with youth - I work at a theater company - it's important for youth to feel safe to be themselves as they fully are, and that is what the RIDE policy provides for. I appreciate that you are following that policy, protecting gender-diverse students, and we expect that, like every other district in Rhode Island, you'll continue upholding this policy.
Ryan Fontaine: I'm the Trans Health Education and Policy Specialist at Thundermist Health Center. For those who are unfamiliar, Thundermist is a federally qualified community health center that has served the community of West Warwick for over 20 years, in addition to the communities of Woonsocket. In South County, Thundermist presently serves 62,000 people with patients from every zip code in Rhode Island. In 2015, Thundermist became the first in Rhode Island to start a dedicated program for trans health that is still the largest in the state today, presently serving over 2,100 people.
We're here tonight to fulfill our mission and commitment that every member of the West Warwick community can lead a healthy life and that necessarily includes the transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse young people in this community. We'd like to voice our support of and thanks to this committee for recognizing that trans students belong and are deserving of high-quality education.
The same tired, old disinformation that has been used against LGBTQ+ people is being repeated in school committees across the state to push districts to enact policies that would be harmful to their students. Yet we know from data that supportive policies in schools benefit all students.
Speaking personally, I'm not a West Warwick resident, though Rhode Island has always been my home. I went through public school at a time before policies like this existed, at a time when there was little public awareness and support for gender-diverse people. Overall, as a young trans person, I was afraid to come out anywhere because I had no idea who I could trust or how anyone would react. It's heartening to be in a place where our state and our local communities value the dignity of everyone and where we have led in creating inclusive policies that support everyone. We have made so much progress and we can't go back. I strongly urge you to continue making us a safe space.
Robert Chiaradio delivered essentially the same stuff he’s been bringing to every other school committee in the state. I didn’t feel the need to transcribe it a fifth time, so interested readers are invited to read his words here, here, here, or here.
JoJo Clarke: I wish to thank this board for allowing me to voice my support for rights, policy, and guidelines in support of transgender and gender-diverse students. At its heart, [the policy] simply extends the protections and safety for all students. It mirrors our society's endeavor to fight discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry. What better place to start than at the school level?
Others here tonight might try to persuade you with fear of trans students or an unsettling sense of safety. Neither fear nor safety is corrected by bigotry. Knowledge, and making unsafe spaces safer is the only true remedy and an unmonitored restroom is unsafe for all students, no matter their biological sex or gender identity. If you want to make it safer, make window walls with private stalls. Use reasoning. Our builders have, in the construction of parking garages, built glass stairwells at its corners facing the street for all to see any assault. Students, just like adults, behave best when seen.
To the argument of addressing a student by other than their given name. If a student by the name of Oxymoron asked to be called Ox to avoid teasing, we would favor the best name for that more peaceful learning environment for them. This is the same for a transgender or gender-diverse student and it has never been the teacher's duty to report on how they manage the best learning atmosphere for their students in classes. Theirs is to report on the metrics of the subject and study and the participation or disruption by the students in class.
I would hope this board adopts a guideline that utilizes reasoning and not fear and keeps the mission of safety and fairness for all students set in policy without prejudice and bigotry. I believe this has been well thought through by RIDE and I hope you see that too.
Carissa Koski: I'm a West Warwick resident here to speak in support of the RIDE policies that keep trans kids safe at school. Supporting trans kids at home and school has a significant impact on their well-being and has been proven to reduce suicidal ideation. There's nothing more important than ensuring that kids can live and grow up to be adults.
To those who attack trans kids and spread misinformation and fear, I wonder, do you know any trans people? Have you ever taken the time to listen to their experiences and what it was like growing up in a society that doesn't support them? They're just regular people and like us, they're more than their private parts, physical characteristics, hormone levels, or chromosomes. Trans kids are beloved members of our community and they deserve the right to education and participation in sports as much as anyone else in our community.
Having policies in place that support trans kids doesn't impact kids who aren't trans, but for kids who are trans, it can change their entire experience. Not all kids are safe at home, but all kids should be safe at school as their authentic selves.
Regarding bathrooms, there's absolutely no reliable evidence of trans kids or adults perpetrating violence in bathrooms. A UCLA study found that there is no link between trans-inclusive bathroom policies and bathroom safety. Anyone who cites this as a concern is spreading misinformation over something that quite frankly is not a concern and as a community, we need to support safe and affirming bathroom access for all kids.
Our students are in Gen Z, which is the most empathetic and accepting generation yet. I also believe we should be listening to the kids more. When I look at the younger generation, I see a level of empathy and emotional intelligence that is truly inspiring. They do not fear those who are different than them. Our kids have a lot to learn from elders, but as adults, we also have a lot to learn from the kids. Listening to their perspectives and experiences can bring us a better understanding of so many things.
Lauren: It has taken a lot of mental preparation for me to be standing here right now and that isn't because of a fear of public speaking or even because I couldn't make the time in my family's relatively busy schedule. It's because of the fear of possible negative repercussions.
The subject of gender ideology and everything it entails is a political hot topic dividing people throughout this country. I attempt to remain as impartial and open-minded as humanly possible when it comes to heavily sensitive topics. One reason is that I believe open-mindedness is important and necessary as we all come from different walks of life and likely have reasons to believe the things we believe, care about, and advocate for.
Another reason is my line of work and the fear that my difference of opinion with the apparent majority of mental health professionals could somehow negatively impact my career - and like many people, I have a mortgage to pay and a small child to provide for, but I've also realized that not sharing my personal and professional viewpoints due to that fear would make me a hypocrite.
I have worked in the field of mental and behavioral health for roughly 15 years in large part with children and adolescents. My focus is on two things, mental health and the environmental and social factors that impact it. That last part is important because when people hear the words mental health, they often believe that contributing factors are mostly biological or hereditary, and while that may be a part of it, it's crucial to understand that our surroundings, how we were raised, what we learned in school, whether or not we fit in with peers in our community, and the overall influence that social acceptance or disapproval has had on us can be psychologically impactful in many ways, both good and bad.
When it comes to the topic of gender ideology and young children questioning their gender, I believe that as a society we are moving in a very dangerous direction, automatically affirming these beliefs without first focusing attention on what else may be going on in the life of a particular child or teenager. [This] is not only counterproductive but incredibly irresponsible.
I frequently find myself saying two things can be true at the same time. We can show support, empathy, and acceptance to our youth who may be struggling with their identity, but we cannot do so at the expense of other groups, namely our young females who, let's face it, already have a ton going on both emotionally and physically during adolescence. They deserve respect and especially privacy.
At the end of the day, it's about caring for the next generation. It's about supporting, protecting, and guiding these kids. I think that's one thing that we can all agree on. We wouldn't be here if we didn't. It's why I chose my career path in life and while I will continue to speak on this subject to stand up for the rights of my 2-year-old daughter, let's be completely transparent, brains don't fully develop until age 25. Hence, we don't allow minors to make life-altering decisions without first talking to trusted adults. I strongly believe that automatically reinforcing [gender] ideology and questioning without first focusing on the root cause of why many of our kids today are struggling is a huge mistake that needs to be taken into consideration.
Estelle Bubble: I promise I'll make this short. I'm on a board, Grandmothers Against Socialism, and we were talking about all of this. There's also a YouTube out from EWTN2, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. And then they also have A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing II, about the transgender. I urge everyone to watch this because this is what was going on way back when and now it's coming back. My father used to tell me history repeats itself. Well, it's coming back so we cannot let this go on. We need to put a stop to this. This is our family, the future of our children. Sometimes you've got to push back. Being a parent, I have three daughters and I have grandsons and I would not want this to pass. Absolutely not. So I urge everyone to go on YouTube and check that out because that'll wake you up. That being said, thank you very much.
These laws are not new. They have been in place as RIDE policy, protecting gender-diverse without incident for around seven years. Furthermore, the policies are based on long-standing state and federal laws and civil rights protections, some going back decades.
Pope Francis has lashed out at the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), saying: “They are the work of the devil.”
Yay!! That makes me very happy!! West Warwick is where I live and pay taxes and I approve this sentiment!
“Grandmothers against socialism”? Nuts. Just nuts.