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Summary: The new guidelines are meant to ensure that no one else feels alienated.
[TORONTO, 4 October 2012] â Transgender students in Toronto schools must be accommodated according to their own stated gender preference and do not need to produce official documentation to justify their identity choice, according to a new equity policy. The Toronto District School Board recently issued new guidelines spelling out the ways students who donât conform with traditional gender identities should be treated in the classroom. They include rules stipulating that students be allowed to dictate how they are addressed in correspondence with parents and choose which washrooms to use on school grounds. âRequiring students to âproveâ their gender (by requiring a doctorâs letter, identity documents, etc.) is not acceptable,â the board policy reads. âA studentâs self-identification is the sole measure of the studentâs gender.â Students are permitted to use whichever washroom fits with their stated gender preference rather than their birth sex, the document states, adding schools are encouraged to have at least one unisex stall available. The guidelines also emphasise the need to keep a studentâs gender-related choices confidential from their guardians, adding staff should meet with students at the beginning of the school year to discuss which names and pronouns should be used in the schoolâs communications with parents. Board spokesman Ryan Bird said the new policy - which marks the first time such regulations have been implemented throughout the organisation - were drafted in response to a human rights complaint launched about a year ago. A transgender student challenged the board after feeling excluded from certain programmes or services due to gender, Bird said. The new guidelines are meant to ensure that no one else feels alienated, he added. âRegardless of somebodyâs situation, we want them to feel safe and welcome in our schools,â Bird said. The board policy did not specify whether the rules apply to children over a certain age. Bird hailed the policy as an important step, but said the boardâs commitment to human rights in the classroom was well-established long before the documentâs release on Wednesday. âItâs a significant step forward for us, but we have been working on breaking down barriers in schools for a long time,â he said. âI wouldnât call it a big momentous occasion.â  Further Information:Â
pdf: http://metronews.ca/uncategorized/393986/new-school-guidelines-for-trans...