A six-year-old transgender child who has been attending school as a girl with the school’s consent has now been told she must use the boy’s restroom from now on. Her parents are fighting the decision according to Feb. 26 report on Daily Mail.
Coy Mathis was born anatomically male but has been living as a girl since she was four years old. She has been banned from using the girl’s restroom at the Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain, Colorado last December.
The school would permit the child to use the boy’s restroom, the gender-neutral faculty bathrooms or the nurse's bathroom. Her parents, Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis, are fighting the ban, saying the school is setting Coy up for bullying and harassment.
In an interview with Katie Couric, Mrs. Mathis said prior to the change in rules from the school, Coy dressed as a girl, was treated as a girl at school and was permitted to use the girl’s restroom.
After more than a year at the school as a girl, the Fountain-Fort Carson School District had a change of heart and requested a meeting with Coy’s parents. They learned she would no longer be allowed to use the girl’s restroom at school following winter break.
Prior to the complaint, the first-grader, who dresses as a girl and is recognized as female on her passport and state-issued ID, had experienced no issue using the girls' bathrooms. The Mathis’ were stunned and had no idea why the change was proposed.
Rather than force Coy to comply, they removed all of their children from the school and lodged a complaint with state's civil rights division. The family is being represented by Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. Instead of making Coy a target for stigma and bullying, he says “'Coy's school has the opportunity to turn this around and teach Coy's classmates a valuable lesson about friendship, respect and basic fairness.'
The school district’s attorney, W. Kelly Dude says the school had to consider the welfare of other students and their parents as well as Coy’s. The issue pertains to the future as Coy grows older and develops as a male.
'I'm certain you can appreciate that as Coy grows older and his male genitals develop along with the rest of his body, at least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable with his continued use of the girls' restroom,' he said.
Mrs. Mathis began to notice the transgendered nature of her son when Coy was only 18months old. He was drawn to girly things even then. He loved a fairy flower dress with a matching tutu and a Dora the Explorer swimsuit.
Mrs. Mathis noticed her son was increasingly uncomfortable as a girl. He would ask when he could visit the doctor so he could get girl parts so his body would be a girl. Eventually the child refused to leave the house dressed as a boy.
A psych evaluation confirmed what the Mathis’ already knew. Coy was a girl in a boy’s body. At the age of four, her parents decided to let Coy be herself and they made the change. Since then, Coy has blossomed.
The Mathis family will homeschool Coy until the matter is resolved.
The family chose to go public with their story because, in the words of Mrs. Mathis, 'It's important for us to talk about this, because a lot of people have been so afraid to be their true selves for so long. We want to help create a society where it's OK to be who you are.”
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