St. Landry Schools Pronoun Policy, 'They talk about the closet for a reason'

Yahoo

28-01-2025

OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY)– St. Landry Parish School Board is discussing adopting a new pronoun policy that does not require teachers to call students by their preferred pronoun.
This policy aligns with state rules. The was adopted by the state last year, requiring each public-school governing authority to adopt the policy ensuring students' legal names and pronouns are used at school.
The policy being discussed in St. Landry Parish reads, 'An employee of the St. Landry Parish School Board shall not be required to address a student by a name other than the student's legal name, or a derivative thereof, and the employee shall not be required to use a pronoun that is inconsistent with the student's sex.'
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The policy outlines consequences for those who don't comply.
'lf a school employee refers to a minor student by a pronoun that is inconsistent with thestudent's sex or refers to the student by a name other than the student's legal name, or aderivative thereof, the parent may seek corrective action by the school principal so thatthe student will be addressed according to the student's sex.'
'lf the school principal intentionally refuses to implement corrective action, or, if after theschool principal implements corrective action, an employee intentionally refuses to honorthe corrective action, then the parent shall have remedies as follow:An employee, parent of a minor student, or a student who has reached the ageof majority aggrieved by an intentional violation of La. Rev. Stat. Ann. 917:2122by a public school shall have a private cause of action for injunctive relief,monetary damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any otherappropriate relief.'
Lafayette Parish School Board adopted the same policy last month.
Local LGBTQ+ activist Matthew Humphrey (he/him) told News Ten this policy creates consequences for queer children.
'These kids already feel different inside. They're struggling with something that even their educators don't understand and refuse to try to understand,' Humphrey said. 'They're navigating uncharted waters, and now they're being told that the place that is supposed to be safe for them, that they go every day, and the teachers that are supposed to teach them how to do life, don't even have to respect how they feel inside.'
He also said the pronoun policy seems to serve no purpose.
'I don't think it actually serves any sort of purpose for the school board. I don't think it serves a purpose for the school or the children that are in it,' Humphrey said.
Humphrey said if he could tell lawmakers who pushed the 'Given Name Act' anything, he would ask them to 'leave the kids alone.'
'If I were sitting with a group of trans kids, and we were reading over this policy, I would tell them that, 'Okay, well, then just hide yourself in school, because that's what they're telling you to do,'' Humphrey said. 'It's not as though we haven't always been doing this.'
He continued, 'They talk about the closet for a reason, and we get put there. We get told that we have to stay in there, so that other people are comfortable with pretending that we don't exist. And we do exist.'
One school board member told News Ten this discussion is to determine whether or not this policy will be brought before the board to be voted on in the next board meeting.
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