Changing gender is easier than ever in NYC schools

New York Post | June 28, 2019

City kids can now change their gender status on school records without any legal documentation — and play for the sports teams of their preference, the Department of Education announced Friday.

With parental permission [soon it will be with or without parental permission! - The Catacombs], students can alter their genders, change their names and join sports teams regardless of what appears on their birth certificate, officials said.
After submitting a newly created “name and gender change request form,” all school-related documents and data — including report cards, diplomas, and enrollment numbers — will reflect the requested designations.

“With this updated policy, which allows students to change their name and gender on school records without legal documentation, we are signaling our support for all students regardless of gender identity,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said in a statement celebrating the changes.

Kids and their families will also be able to self-report names and genders when enrolling in a DOE school.

The regulations will permanently modify how schools calculate their demographics. Instead of tabulating gender numbers through birth certificates, administrators will now rely on self-reported information.

The rule is part of a larger set of new DOE initiatives aimed at minimizing gender-specific practices inside city classrooms.

Schools will now be barred from tailoring any uniforms — including graduation gowns — to gender.

“School dress codes must be … free of gender stereotypes and must be written, enforced, and applied equally to all students regardless of gender,” the DOE said.

The new dress code rules will help ease “the trauma that can be unintentionally inflicted on girls, trans, and gender-nonconforming youth, particularly youth of color, by the uneven application and enforcement of dress codes,” Councilman Mark Treyger said in a statement.

Dividing sex ed classes by gender has now also been officially prohibited in city schools, according to the DOE.

“These new guidelines additionally specify that puberty education classes must be inclusive and affirming to all genders, gender identities, and sexual orientations, and use gender-inclusive language throughout,” the department said.

The DOE added that LGBTQ-related subject matters will become mandatory for all city kids so that “multiple forms of diversity, including gender and sexual orientation, are recognized, understood, and regarded as indispensable sources of knowledge for rigorous teaching and learning,” the DOE said.