Cape Town - The school governing body of Beaumont Primary School believes allowing an 8-year-old transgender boy to wear a male swimsuit may “cause social discomfort”.
Their decision to decline an application made by the pupil’s parent to use the swimwear option for boys has been met with outrage.
Human rights body Triangle Project said ignorance and prejudice were still prevalent in schools.
The school’s governing body (SGB) said it had a duty not only to act in the individual child’s interest, but also in the collective interest of all children in the school.
“An application by the parents of one of the transgender learners for the child to use the swimwear option for boys was not successful. The SGB has a duty not only to act in the individual child’s interest but also in the collective interest of all children in the school.
“Sometimes, a decision in favour of the collective is in fact also a decision in favour of the individual. In the case of the swimwear, it is important to keep in mind that a trans male 10-year-old still has to grapple with the developments of a biologically female body on the cusp of puberty.”
“Through, for example the unisex swimwear option, the SGB has created an environment that can accommodate gender diversity while balancing the rights of the individual and the collective,” said SGB chairperson Dirk van Loggerenberg.
He said they had been engaging in respectful dialogue with all parties to seek solutions that prioritise the rights and dignity of all involved.
Attempts to speak to the child’s parents were not successful on Monday.
Van Loggerenberg added that they had been acting from a position of sensitivity and respect with regard to both “gender diverse learners, as well as the collective rights of all learners”.
“The school has made a unisex toilet available to all learners. Similarly an agreement was reached that transgender learners will make use of a unisex clothing option, comprising of shorts and a second skin top. It is important to note that both the unisex toilet, as well as the unisex swimwear options, are available to all learners,” he said.
Health and support services manager at the Triangle Project, Reverend Sharon Cox said: “Much of the setting apart of ‘the other’ is and has been done through clothing. A few metres of fabric has caused untold trauma for many young LGBTIQ+ learners.
“Our children go to school to learn and to participate fully in what the school has to offer in terms of activities and one such activity is sport. Two young transgender boys would just like to be able to swim, along with their friends and peers.
“This is something that cisgender people do not have to think twice about.
You put on a swimsuit, you swim and that is cisgender privilege. This is not the case for transgender and gender nonbinary persons.
“The fact that this supposedly causes ‘social discomfort’ or is in ‘conflict with their beliefs’ speaks to what really drives policies around school uniforms and dress codes at schools.
“Are we as a society going to continue to deny that people are who they are?
“Are we going to persist in hanging on to outdated Eurocentric values, which continue to inform who should be wearing what,” she said.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said the school’s SGB has taken steps to address the matter.
“SGBs have wide ranging powers conferred on them by the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, which includes school dress code.
“The school’s SGB has taken steps to address the matter, and we trust that it will be resolved in the best interests of all at the school.”
Cape Times