Battle Over Bathrooms | Gender Revolution With Katie Couric (Bonus Scene)

NARRATOR: There's a new battleground in this gender revolution—bathrooms. And nowhere is that battle more heated than in public schools. Now, even the Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia, who's fighting for the right to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender he identifies as, not the gender he was assigned at birth.

"I'm not looking for separate but equal; I'm looking for the same opportunities that my peers enjoy every single day. And that includes using the same restroom as any other student."

NARRATOR: But one school in South Central LA is already forging ahead: the Santee Education Complex High School. In 2016, it opened what's considered the nation's first gender-neutral, multi-stall restroom. A cause for celebration for some, a lightning rod for others. Santee is part of the LA Unified School District, which represents nearly 1,100 schools and more than 640,000 students. It's a district that's been on the front lines of this issue for years. The LA Unified School District has had transgender-affirming policies since 2005.

NARRATOR: That was more than a decade before President Obama told schools across the country to open their bathrooms to transgender students or face losing federal funds. "The policy that we wrote 10 years ago was inspired by a family with a transgender first grader. The policy is actually pretty simple: our transgender students can access all facilities based on their affirmed gender identity. In LA Unified, a student who is transgender can change their name, their pronoun, and access facilities."

NARRATOR: It's a whole new world for educators. So LA Unified trains them in everything, from roll call in homeroom, diplomas at graduation, and, yes, the question of who can use which bathroom. "So we're going to do a little test. There's going to be some slides that come up, and I just want you to call out the people in the slide; what is the bathroom that you would probably direct them to? So if a student named John comes back from spring vacation and says, 'My name is April, and I would like you to refer to me by she and her,' we sit down with this student. Usually, a counselor will talk to them and ask them what's going on, how long have you been feeling like this. We make a plan with that student. What is it that you need? Do you want to change how you're known at school completely? Do you want us to change the name on the roster? Which are things that we're capable of doing. When a student is transitioning and they meet with their school and they talk about their identity as something that is affirmed, is deeply rooted, it is consistent, it is persistent."

NARRATOR: "You can't be transgender just for fifth period PE to have access to the locker room. We would not allow that because it needs to be genuine. And if the administrator has a reasonable suspicion that the request is not legitimate, they do not have to honor it. The situation of a student, a male student—interestingly, we only seem to worry about our male students—but a male student pretended to be transgender so he can, for predatory reasons, have access to a female facility. I think that's rather ridiculous."

NARRATOR: "I've heard all kinds of fears expressed just through the media. None of those fears have ever been realized. Ever. We have never had the type of fearful misconduct that people talk about with our transgender students. That has never happened."

NARRATOR: "Last year, I got 17 phone calls in three days from elementary schools, mind you, that had transgender students whose parents wanted them to be able to attend schools authentically. There are so many more students who are coming out now, just because of the national conversation."

NARRATOR: "When we talk to families, we can tell them, we will be one of the most affirming school districts in the country. It's a promise that I am fortunate to be able to make on behalf of all of us. I do believe that, as a country, we need to make space for people who have more fluidity around their gender or people who are transgender. Kind of break that rigidity."

NARRATOR: "So I believe that, as a school district and as a community and as people who care about others, that the more that we can do to help people be more of who they are, the more they're going to be able to be engaged in their education, follow their dreams, and be more of who they are. Our goal is to help people be more of who they are, not less."