Hi friends,
Just a couple of quick things you might be interested in:
First, an invitation to you to come to our October 23 meeting, when we will happily celebrate 4 years of support group meetings, education for the NEOhio community, and being part of a wide array of other wonderful programs going on in NEOhio to support the LGBTQIA community. We will celebrate with a concert by the Cleveland Transgender Choir and a social meeting (in lieu of a regular support group meeting). We hope to see old friends and new friends! Allies are welcome to attend!!
We are grateful for the support of friendship given to us over the past years, including our friends at PFLAG Akron and Cleveland, Unity of Medina, GLSEN, the Akron Community Foundation and it’s affiliate groups( GCEF, Millenium Fund for Children, and the Medina Women’s Endowment Fund),
CLAW, among many individuals who have been ever so helpful in any capacity! A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL!!
The 2nd thing that I’d like to make you aware of is what I felt was a great idea for those who are in school settings, and dealing with the “bathroom issue”. I was at an educational conference a week or so ago, and the presenter, who was from Syracuse, New York, advised our group of a solution that may work in some of the schools, and this solution is used in many of the schools in that area. At least it might be a partial solution. So, the thought that a transgender/gender fluid teen is given the use of the nurses bathroom or the teachers bathroom, and if the school is huge (like many of the schools today), it is difficult and time consuming for the teen to be able to get to the nurses office and make it to the other side of campus in the 3 minutes or so that teens have between classes. The solution is to make sure that all teachers (or at least the classrooms that are too far away for the teen to commute to the nurses restroom) that the teen has will allow the teen 2-3 extra minutes before coming back to class, in which time, theoretically, the bell would have rung, and all the other teens are in the classroom. That time could be used by a transgender teen to use the restroom of their choosing nearest the next class period. They would have their privacy, and they would likely only miss a few minutes of classroom time. IF the school and family can agree to a solution like this, it might be the best solution, until the teen can start using the bathrooms at all times of their choosing. If you have already tried this and it hasn’t worked, please disregard this info. But if an arrangement like this can be made, it seems like a good one to me. I hope it’s helpful to someone!!
I hope to see you at the Oct 23 meeting!!
Kindest regards,
Sandy