San Jose

LGBTQ students, parents demand changes and support at SJUSD

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Parents and teachers say some LGBTQ+ students and staff in the San Jose Unified School District are dealing with discrimination and bullying.

Dozens of concerned parents rallied and demanded change before and during Thursday’s school board meeting.

“There’s such a culture of fear in the district. There are so many students who use pronouns that are not 'he or she' and were constantly misgendered in school,” said Eli Dinh, a teacher and parent at San Jose USD.

Dinh believes some students and staff are being discriminated against.

“We’re in the Bay Area were supposed to be a place where we are beyond this. But we are not. It's 2023 and I’m being told that I can't teach a student that boys can wear dresses,’” they said.

Parents said they want programs and platforms that better support LGBTQ+ students. They’re also demanding an LGBTQ advisory committee that can report to the board, an LGBTQ site liaison on every campus, gender training for all employees and an updated policy for LGBTQ+ students.

“San Francisco Unified School District has been doing this work since before I was born,” Dinh said. “And I’m in my 30’s. We are very, very far behind and we are 40 minutes away.”

In a statement, the district said it already has an LGBTQ+ policy in place and will continue to provide training to staff on LGBTQ+ topics.

The board members were supposed to vote on a resolution recognizing Pride Month and LGBTQ students on Thursday. Some parents were critical of it due to the lack of action.

But the vote never happened. The board president pulled it off the agenda to revise and enhance it with input from the community.

Not everyone is in support. Some parents believe teachers are forcing their beliefs and morals onto students.

“They’re minds are still developing,” said GC, a San Jose parent. “They have a special innocence to them and I think to confuse them with the Pride and the trans. I don’t think that’s a good thing to do.”

GC believes any LGBTQ+ program should be voted on by parents.

The board president said he expects the revised Pride resolution to be voted on in August during Silicon Valley Pride.

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