A local New York City school board voted Wednesday night to rescind a controversial resolution that challenged the participation of transgender students in sports.
After a recent parent election that shook up the political composition of the board, Community Education Council 2 voted 7-3 to repeal their request for a review committee on the Manhattan school district’s inclusive gender guidelines. Two members abstained.
The original measure, passed in the spring of last year, sparked months of sustained protests and even censure from the former New York City schools chancellor, David Banks. The citywide policy allows students to play on sports teams and participate in physical education activities that align with their gender identity.
In one of the first acts of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender girls from female sports, renewing the pressure on CEC2 to reverse its ask in the liberal stronghold of New York. While Trump and his allies argue it’s an issue of fairness, progressives say the movement is a red herring with significant implications for the mental health and well-being of transgender students.
“It sends a message that people in our local community want to stand up to this, that they don’t accept what the Trump administration is pushing on us,” said Gavin Healy, a CEC2 member who helped lead a push to rescind the resolution over the last year and a half.
“We’ve heard the testimony from trans people, from parents of trans students in our schools,” he said. They wanted to be recognized for their humanity, and I think that it was important that we did that.”
Wednesday night’s vote did not appear to reflect a changing of the minds, but a changing of the guard.
During this year’s parent elections culminating in June, four new parents were elected to CEC2 who joined Healy in voting to undo the measure, along with two members appointed by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
One member who was reelected to the board changed his vote to an abstention. Most other reelected parents appeared to stand by their initial votes.
