So I found a news story today that I think brings up a very interesting debate that's a little more divisive than plain old gay marriage--gender identity and children. The article is here on CNN, and tells the story Coy Mathis who is a first-grader who was born with male genitals but self-identifies as a girl. Up until this point, Coy has been allowed to use the girl's restroom, but her elementary school told her parents in December that she would have to start using the boy's restroom after their winter break concluded. They said it was because they were concerned for the future impact a boy with male genitals might have on using a girl's bathroom as Coy grew older. As this quote specifies, it was not the impact on Coy they were worried about, it was the potential awkwardness for the girls:
"However, 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."
Apart from not letting her use the girl's restroom and not addressing her by her preferred gender, the school appears to show no objection to Coy's identifying as a girl. They aren't telling her to dress like a boy at this point, and apparently she's even allowed to have long purple hair in school. So by no means is this a very strictly conservative school we're talking about, here.
So my question is, is this a valid concern and how do you think gender-identity should be handled by schools, if at all? Should students be allowed to use the opposite facilities if they identify as a gender that is not the same as their sex? Should schools address them by the gender they identify as rather than their sex?
As far as me, I'm really not sure where I stand on the bathroom thing. It would be very easy to say it could be awkward and have an averse impact on other students, but I really haven't heard many accounts of this or read any literature or studies on how gender identity plays into social interaction and development. I fully understand and accept that children as young as Coy can develop their own gender identities, and no matter how the school handles their bathrooms I don't think they should be outright told they are wrong. But even the article admits children who identify as a gender that's different from their sex is essentially an unstudied group. And then even I'm disgusted that I'm speaking of them as though they're some alien race to be examined and categorized, so I'm going to be flaky and not commit to a single side at this point. So now, your turn. What do?