I was disheartened this week upon reading the article Serena Scaglione wrote on AB 1266. As a member of the LGBTQ community, it was painful to see this paper play into heteronormativity and the inherently oppressive gender binary system.

I found the claim that allowing gender-nonconforming students to use the bathroom they identify with would endanger cisgender students to be lacking in supportive evidence. If someone wishes to break the law and cause harm to someone else, a law preventing them from entering a bathroom is not going to dissuade them.

To claim to be concerned with the safety of trans* students while advocating against their rights and their ability to be in an environment in which they feel most comfortable is counterintuitive and harmful.

In a country in which 41percent of the transgender* population has attempted or committed suicide, there is no room to “protect” our people by not allowing them to express their identities.

I hope that La Voz will act with more tact and sensitivity when handling such a pressing issue in the future.

Stacie Rowe

DASB President