LGBTQ students in Colorado Springs discussed their experiences in local school districts this week during a panel discussion hosted by The Pikes Peak Safe Schools Coalition.
“The Safe Schools Coalition is a monthly meeting of parents, teachers, students, school administrators, school board members, anyone who really is passionate about making schools safer for all students, but specifically LGBTQIA2+ students,” explained Jaxon Hoskinson, the school advocate for Inside Out Youth Services. “We meet once a month to talk about challenges students are facing in their local schools and ways that we as a community can support them. The way that that has been taking shape lately has been going to school board meetings and speaking on HB-1039 implementation.”
This year, Colorado school districts are required by House Bill 24-1039 to adopt policies outlining how the school will honor a student’s request to use a chosen name. While the bill was lauded as a victory for LGBTQ students and allies, conservatives argued that the bill infringed on parental rights by not mandating parental notification.
“There’s absolutely nothing in the bill that says that a school may not contact the parent to let them know that this is going on,” Rep. Stephanie Vigil (D-CO Springs), one of the bill’s sponsors, told the Colorado Times Recorder last month.
Conservative activist groups like Moms for Liberty have been proactive in convincing school districts across the state to adopt policies that mandate parental notification. Hoskinson argues that parental notification could put LGBTQ students at risk.
“We don’t want students going home and being outed,” said Hoskinson. “That can put them at dangerous risk and put them at an increased risk of houselessness or homelessness, which we know has many other ripple-down effects. It’s hard enough to be a kid in school. It’s even harder to be an LGBTQ kid at school. So just trying to make it as safe as possible for them while they’re doing that.”
Julie Ott, a Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education member, attended this week’s LGBTQ student panel. “I always want to know what our young people are thinking,” she said. “As we consider our non-legal name change policy for District 11. I was curious if that would be addressed, and while it wasn’t addressed directly, I feel like the comment about students being people too, I think is very relevant for that policy.”
D11’s board is currently considering their own policy in response to HB 1039. “The board has discussed it in a work session,” said Ott. “We are probably going to look at it again in January. Right now, the draft would require parental consent and parental notification.”
Dianna, who asked that her last name not be published, is the parent of a trans child and knows the impact that name change policies can have on students after an experience last year in D11. “I had downloaded some information from Inside Out about how to support trans kids in schools,” she said. “I had basically tried to advocate a bit because of what had happened with a substitute [teacher] basically seeing the deadname on an attendance roster and really took that to the extreme of being very hurtful for kiddo and saying some really hurtful things.”
Ott expressed her support for the new law. “I think it’s very important to be supportive of all of our students,” she said. “Some students might need more support right now than others, given elections, given the policy [changes mandated by HB1039]. I think that HB 24-1039 is trying to be respectful of students and that I think we can all strive to be more supportive of our students.”
For Dianna and other parents of LGBTQ youth, affirming policies can have a profound impact. “For me, it’s really those policies where just doing the simple name change – I think people don’t realize how much of an impact, a positive impact, it can have on a child,” she said. “Based on my own parental experience, I’ve seen what those little things of acceptance and affirmation can mean in terms of like, big courage and big self-esteem. I think that’s what people lose sight of a little bit.”
