‘I no longer feel safe’: Students beg New York school board to reverse trans bathroom policy

The girls made it clear that while their worries were not motivated by hate, they did not feel safe at their age being exposed to members of the other sex without their consent.

"I'm here to express that I no longer feel safe within the four walls at [Felix Festa Middle School Pool] and I feel like my freedom has been taken away from me," one girl said. "I have been waiting since second grade for swimming during school at Festa, only now to find out I'm sharing a locker room with a trans female who may still have a penis."

"I do not feel comfortable being exposed to that," she continued. "This has nothing to do with any[body] being a bad person. It is simply that I do not feel mature enough to view any man's penis; whether they identify as a female or a man, a penis is a penis."

Her sentiments were shared by her fellow students, one of whom slammed administrators for "bullying" them into going along with their policies.

"You are not teaching me to be ok with who you are, you are pushing me to show my vulnerable parts to somebody I may not trust," she said. "This is not hate speech; this is a 15-year-old student who's affected by the decisions you push upon us... I and my friends want our sense of privacy to be valued by the higher-ups."

Another student suggested the policy had been adopted without proper engagement with the student body.

"We need leaders who prioritize the wellbeing, privacy and safety of every student, leaders who are willing to listen, assess, and if necessary, reverse decisions that do not serve the best interests of those who they pledged to protect."

As Lohud reports, Superintendent Marc Baiocco defended the district's position, arguing that the policy is set by state officials in Albany.