On March 5, 150 people took to the streets of Sarasota to resist Trump and stand up for trans rights. Gathering in Five Points Park downtown, they held signs reading, “Trans rights now!” and “Sarasota County: Protect trans students! Equal rights now!”
Organized by trans activist Nate Quinn, the rally continued a campaign for trans rights in Sarasota County Schools that began over a year ago when Quinn refused to accept Pine View School’s exclusionary bathroom policy. Quinn and his campaign have made local and national headlines for calling on the School Board to enact a list of policies known as “Nate’s List” that would protect trans students district-wide.
For months, parents, teachers and community members demanded that Sarasota County Schools obey the federal guidelines clarifying Title IX’s protection of transgender students, issued by the Obama administration in May. The school board, composed of out-of-touch opportunists and dark money conservatives, refused to follow them. Last month, President Trump rescinded the guidelines, sparking protests around the nation.
“When Donald Trump’s administration decided that the federal government would no longer enforce Obama’s rule on transgender students’ bathroom use, he did not realize that it would ignite so much power, self-love, energy and solidarity,” said representatives of Queery, an LGBTQ student group at New College of Florida.
At the rally, demonstrators’ power and solidarity was on display while they refused to be intimidated by police. Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino, an enthusiastic Trump supporter, commanded dozens of police officers and a surveillance helicopter to surround demonstrators in the park. The heavy-handed tactics used by police prompted the crowd at one point to boo Sarasota Police Department.
Local actions and organizing such as the Nate’s List campaign have become even more important now that Trump’s Department of Education is almost certain to not enforce Title IX’s anti-discrimination protections. In Florida, there are 67 school districts ranging from Broward County, which supports trans and gender nonconforming students, to Marion County, which just last year passed an emergency resolution backed by the Liberty Council requiring that students only use the bathroom that aligns with their birth certificate.
“We need to call on Sarasota to get off their hands and pass fully inclusive policies and procedures protecting our transgender and gender nonconforming students in Sarasota,” said Gina Duncan, Equality Florida’s Director of Transgender Equality. “Time for inaction is gone.”
On March 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on the case of Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old trans student at Gloucester High School in Virginia who was barred from using the men’s room at his school. The outcome of the case will define how trans students are allowed to be treated on a national level when it comes to bathroom access. Many March actions are planned to support Gavin and trans communities all over the country.
