Students | Transgender Rights | Connecticut

Yes. Connecticut public schools must allow all children an equal opportunity to participate in school regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (Conn. Gen. Stat. 10-15c).

In addition to Conn. Gen. Stat. 10-15C discussed above, on February 23, 2017, Governor Dannel P. Malloy issued Executive Order No. 56, directing the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, to develop guidance for Connecticut school districts on the rights, responsibilities and best educational practices for transgender students. The guidance document is designed to assist schools and districts implementing civil rights protections for transgender students under state and federal laws and to foster an educational environment that is safe and inclusive. See https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/TitleIX/transgender_guidance_faq.pdf?la=en.

該指南包括以下內容：

• 學校應該尊重跨性別學生的姓名和代名詞；
• 學校應尊重跨性別學生的醫療資訊、曾用名等隱私；
• 學生記錄上的姓名和性別應符合學生的性別認同；
• 跨性別學生應該能夠使用符合其性別認同的洗手間、更衣室和更衣設施；
• 在任何性別隔離的活動中（包括運動），跨性別學生都應該能夠以符合其性別認同的方式參與。

Also, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) views public schools and public colleges as public accommodations (see the section above on Public Accommodations).

Technically, the law only requires that schools give students equal opportunity to participate in activities, programs, and courses of study. It does not explicitly prohibit harassment or discrimination, although both would likely violate the spirit of the law.

Furthermore, at this time, the law contains no mechanism for transgender CT students or their parents to bring a lawsuit for violations of the law (see McPhail v. City of Milford, 1999 Conn. Super. LEXIS 428 (1999) (student could not maintain private right of action because statute was to be enforced specifically by the state board of education)).

Possibly. Federal law prohibits sex discrimination in public schools that receive federal funding. Depending on the situation, harassment of LGBT students may be actionable as sex discrimination (see, e.g., 雷訴安提阿聯合學區案, 107 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (stating that attacks based on a student’s perceived sexuality constitute sex discrimination)). Harassment of transgender students in particular is actionable. Several federal courts have held that the federal anti-discrimination law, Title IX, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity (see, e.g., G.G. v. Gloucester Cnty. Sch. Bd., 822 F.3d 709 (4th Cir. 2016) mandate recalled and stayed, Gloucester Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. G.G., 136 S. Ct. 2442 (2016) (deferring to DOE’s interpretation that Title IX prohibits gender identity discrimination); 教育委員會訴美國教育部, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131474 (S.D. Ohio 2016) (same)). Similarly, in 2016, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released a joint guidance taking the position that Title IX protects transgender students from discrimination based on gender identity; that Title IX obliges schools to respect a student’s gender identity and allow them to participate in sex-segregated activities and access sex-segregated facilities consistent with that identity; and that Title IX does not require a student to provide documentation or medical diagnosis before being treated consistently with their gender identity (see Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students, U.S. Department of Justice/U.S. Department of Education, available here.

Complaints can be made to your school’s Title IX coordinator, as well as to the federal Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, in Boston. In cases where a school has reacted with deliberate indifference, monetary damages may be available. A student’s constitutional rights may be violated by some kinds of discrimination and harassment.

解決這個問題的方法有很多。一種是向朋友、老師或諮商師尋求支持，並與那些困擾你的人交談。但是，如果你覺得這樣做不安全，那就不建議這麼做。

查看學校的政策，並通知應該通知的人——通常是副校長或“第九條”協調員。你可能需要以書面形式記錄任何騷擾或歧視事件。與相關官員會面後，記下你告訴他們的內容和日期，並詢問他們何時會給你答案。如果他們沒有幫助你或沒有跟進，你可能需要寫信給學區負責人和學校董事會，要求他們終止歧視。

同時，或在按照上述方式聯繫行政部門後，您可以向州教育部發送一份投訴副本。雖然他們沒有明確的投訴政策，並且根據反歧視法不承擔任何義務，但您可以要求他們代表您進行幹預。請聯絡康乃狄克州教育部公共資訊辦公室，地址：165 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06145。他們的電話號碼是 (860) 566-5677，網址是 http://www.state.ct.us/sde/。

如果上述方法無法阻止歧視，您也可以考慮採取法律行動。聯絡方式 GLAD 法律問答 尋求律師推薦。

Yes. The law improved significantly in 2011 with the passage of Public Act 11-232, An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 10-222d). Per the law, bullying is defined as repeated written, oral, or electronic communication, or physical acts or gestures by one or more students repeatedly directed at another student, that:

• causes the bullied student physical or emotional harm or damages their property;
• places the bullied student in reasonable fear of being harmed;
• creates a hostile school environment for the bullied student;
• infringes on the bullied student’s rights or substantially disrupts the education process or the school’s orderly operation.

The law also recognizes that students who are LGBT or are perceived to be LGBT or who associate with LGBT students are often the target of bullying (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 10-222d(a)(1)).

Per the law, each school board must develop a “safe school climate plan” that:

• prohibits bullying on school grounds, at a school-sponsored or school-related activity, at a school bus stop or on a school bus, through electronic means (i.e. cyberbullying)
• prohibits discrimination and retaliation against an individual who reports or assists in the investigation of an act of bullying
• enables students to anonymously report acts of bullying
• enables parents to file written reports of suspected bullying
• requires school employees who witness bullying or receive reports of bullying to report it
• requires schools to investigate all reports of bullying and have a prevention and intervention strategy
• requires that both the parents of the bully and the parents of the victim be notified about bullying and told about the measures the school has chosen to take in response
• requires the school to notify the police about any acts of bullying that may constitute criminal conduct
• requires schools to maintain a publicly available list of the number of verified bullying incidents and to report this annually to the Connecticut State Department of Education
• requires all school employees to complete annual training on identifying, preventing and responding to bullying and to youth suicide.