Coming up Wednesday
Coming up Thursday: Transgender student Coy Mathis and parents talk to Soledad about discrimination lawsuit against school
EDITOR'S NOTE: Coy Mathis and her parents, Jeremy and Kathryn, will be guests on "Starting Point" live Thursday, Feb. 28th in 7:00am E.T. hour.
It's a dilemma few schools have ever had to face: First-grader Coy, who was born with male sex organs but identifies herself as female, had been allowed to use her school's girls' bathrooms until school officials barred her from doing so after winter break, her family says.
Coy's parents, Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis, have taken her out of school after the incident.
The district "took into account not only Coy but other students in the building, their parents, and the future impact a boy with male genitals using a girls' bathroom would have as Coy grew older," the school district's attorney, W. Kelly Dude, told CNN Tuesday.
"In the end we just want what is the best for Coy," Mathis said, explaining why the complaint was filed. "We want her to be able to go back to school and be treated equally without discrimination and harassment."
The case has now received national attention and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which is representing Coy, said it has filed a complaint against the state.
"For many transgender people, discrimination is a daily part of life. Unfortunately for Coy, it has started very early," he said, adding that the complaint is a "test of Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act."
On "Starting Point" Thursday, Feb. 28th at 7am Eastern, Coy Mathis and her parents, Jeremy and Kathryn, will talk with Soledad O'Brien live to explain the lawsuit, how the incident has affected the family, the response they've received and their goals going forward.
We want to hear from you: Where do you stand on this story? How do you think the parents and the school should have reacted in this situation? What would you want to ask the Mathis family about their situation?
READ MORE: Parents of transgender first-grader sue Colorado school
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Look, I'm all for equal rights... But this is a 6 YEAR OLD. I'm sorry but no 6 year old I know, understands the difference between a male and female and HE really needs to live a normal childhood. I think this is where parents really need a good kick up the ass. What are you doing with your child? Children in primary school get bullied for having a few extra pounds... I can't imagine the shit he will cop....
This child isn't hurting anyone. She is using the girl's room, therefore using a stall. Nothing about her anatomy is showing and the only way anyone can see anything is by peeking under the door. If that child is doing so then they and their parents need the talking to, not this child. Let her be, love her for who she is and let her flourish.
I hope Coy and her parents kick some serious butt on this lawsuit. This issue could scar her for life. I did and still am doing a school project on her and this issue. I hope the best for her. The world should not discriminate against this, because this could get other transgenders in a fight too. I support you Coy!:)
The school is accomodating Coy wtih other options. Accomdations are not equal to providing the same options as everyone else. Many years ago separate drinking fountains were provided along with seats at the back of the bus for people of colour. I agree with her father who is just asking for her to be included and not to be singled out as different or special.
Wow...parading a six year old child in front of the cameras while discussing her sexuality...a new low in TV journalism.
Poor little Coy's parents are seeeek seeeek seeeek. I've never seen a child abuse case in which the DHS is so justified to step in and rescue a little boy from such a seeeek home environment.
the only issue here is someone trying to push some unnatural foolishness on others, i can understand if this boy had a natural deformity and needed accommodation and who made this boy think he was a girl?
am in uganda,here transgender cases are rare,but few isolated cases have tested how bak word some societies are,at the countries bigest university,astudent was arrested in ahostel (girls)
I have inordinate regard for the problems faced by tansexuals.
But this is a crock.
If first grader says I am a fire(Wo)man it doesn't mean we should give them jobs going to fires. (S)he feels like a she – it may persist, it may not. But if (S)he feels like a boy next week does (s)he start going to the boys room?
I tend to think that there has to be some balance in a world with insufficient resources to give everyone what they want – How about all the first grade girls and their rights to feel comfortable? Do they have rights?
I suppose we could have a girls room, a boys room, a transexuals room, a transvestite's room.
These parents need to sit down and tell them they love their kid and sometimes you don;'t get everything you want. If, in a decade, (s)he still feels that she is trapped in the wrong gender she has the option of going in for reassignment surgery. But first graders do not have the maturity for making such decisions.
Part of me thinks, "How could a child that young really have such severe gender dysphoria? Are these parents for real?"
However, then I snap to the real question at hand and come back to "Who cares?" Let the kid pee in whatever bathroom s/he wants. It's not like port-a-potties have gender designations. There are plenty of public restrooms that are unisex, and nobody cares a bit. This is especially true when everyone has his/her own stall. It's not like s/he's using a urinal in front of a bunch of girls. If it's a girls' bathroom, then all the toilets are in individual stalls. Who cares? I could see more reason to be uncomfortable if a child born as a girl decided she wanted to be a boy and use the boys' bathroom when all the other little boys are standing at urinals. That could legitimately be quite awkward.
Well... He is a boy...so he should use the male restroom. Restrooms aren't for "Gender's" they are for sex differences....
what a crock of stuff. The parents need to have a DSS investigation done and the child taken away from them. Sounds like the parents wanted a girl and got a boy. Until the child turns 18 or older he should not be allowed to choose what gender she/he wishes to change to....childrens brains have not matured enough to really know what they want to do, especially as regards to what sex they should live as. Arrest the parents.
I think that the child isn't hurting anyone. If Coy is in the girl's bathroom then she is using a stall and therefor can't be seen unless someone is peeking under the stall door. In that case I hope that that child's parents are the ones pulled into the office for a talking. Let her be, let her flourish and be happy.
People are scared of the unknown. The vast majority of people have not encountered transgendered people and don't know how to react or treat them, so they being hostile. Poor little Cory is going to be faced with this the rest of her life. I don't know if a lawsuit is the right answer as this will haunt Cory for the rest of her life because kids are extremely mean and don't forget anything that could be remotely humiliating. This is coming from someone that was picked on for being fat from elementary school through middle school. I can only hope that Cory's parents are doing this for the right reasons. And I hope the U.S. as a country will learn to be tolerate of people who are different from the "norm". Because "normal" is just a setting on a dryer. Everyone wants to be accepted and everyone has quirks. Most people have quirks that are not easily noticeable, others do. I just hope this lawsuit ends positively and paves the way for other transgendered people.
It is a mess america. We are country believed in God faith which said to have man and women. We suppose to me a role model to the world instead, we are the worst of the world in term of having man and a women. In this case, I believed this child must be ban from entering any public place like school. Parents need to be a role model not to encourage your kids to do so. I feel ashame for this family for suing the State of Colorado. If I were the parent, I will hide mysellf with this boywomen for the rest of my life. Shame America. I believed this family isn't believed in God.
Whatever the little boy/girls issues are that is fine it will have to learn to deal with it the rest of it's life. Why does this Mother think it is Her right to let a little boy use a girls bathroom..what if the girls in the 1st grade see she is really a boy. Why would the parents of these children Really need to explain all this to a 1st Grader. Either let the kid use the nurses bathroom or Home school this child. So sad to have issues so young.
Why does this Mother think she can sue the School... i hope she gets nothing but abuse...