Is Bucks County School District discriminating against LGBTQ students?

On Thursday, October 6th, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a complaint with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education against the Central Bucks County School District. The ACLU claimed in complaint that the district created a “hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students, and gender non-conforming students.” Several interviews with students as well as current and former teachers of the school district have brought these alleged discriminatory actions to light.

School administrators telling their teachers to take down pride flags from their classrooms; ignoring nonbinary students’ new names and preferred pronouns unless given parental consent to use them; moving an in-person health class to an online class because a non-binary student asked to join the girls’ health class; and ignoring students complaints of bullying are just a few of the many alleged actions taken against the school district’s LGBTQ students in the past few years.

The ACLU suspects that these unfair actions being taken against LGBTQ students are due to the November 2021 school board election. That election brought aboard several new members and caused the school board to be a Republican majority. A common belief for some conservatives is the taking away of LGBTQ rights. So, the ACLU believes that the 2021 election, and the new school board members are a catalyst for the discrimination against the district’s LBGTQ students. The ACLU submitted its 72-page complaint and is waiting to see whether the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education will decide if an investigation into the school district is necessary.

I feel as though there is discrimination going on throughout the district towards LGBTQ students. The two actions against the students I take issue with the most are the removal of pride flags from the classroom and the refusal to allow teachers to respect their students’ names and pronouns.

When a school district tells teachers to take something down that is harmless to the environment, validates LGBTQ students, and doesn’t persuade students politically, then that is discrimination. Pride flags are not political statements used to persuade students to either political party. These flags represent the identity of some of the students and show that their teachers accept them for who they are. Abram Lucabaugh, the school district superintendent claims that “hanging a flag doesn’t do anything to keep a kid safe,” says that “classrooms need to be apolitical,” and compares pride flags to Make America Great Again flags as well as Biden flags. He is misinterpreting the meaning of the flag.

These comments are very disturbing and can be harmful to LGBTQ students because their superintendent, an adult who is supposed to be looking out for them, is comparing them and their human rights to a political issue.

Someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation isn’t an issue that should be up for political debate. His students are real people. When LGBTQ students do not have an accepting family, they seek comfort in other role models in their lives such as their teachers. Knowing they have their teachers’ support could make life a little easier for them, so this action can really harm their students in the long run.

Teachers of the district were also ordered not to call their students by their preferred pronouns or names without parental consent. If a student approached a teacher about being called by their preferred name, the faculty member was to send them to the guidance counselor, who would then notify their parents about this request.

This notification is not only mentally harmful to an LGBTQ person by dead naming them but could physically endanger a student. There are students who aren’t out to their parents but are out in school. Students could come from a homophobic family where coming out safely isn’t possible. If the school notifies the parent or guardian of the student about this situation and the family is homophobic, the student could be kicked out of their home or possibly harmed.

These two actions and the other microaggressions that the ACLU report listed provide an unsafe environment for LGBTQ students in the district.