I cried the first time I read about gender identity and not feeling at home in your own body.

 I remember 7th grade me grabbing a random book in the library and reading it because it sounded cool.

 The book turned out to be The Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. It was about a genderfluid teenager struggling with identity and feeling confined and uncomfortable in their own skin. 

I cried because I felt so seen. 

I then proceeded to repress this for years because I thought that my experiences were normal. I didn’t know that not everyone wished that they could permanently shapeshift into a genderless being and then pick and choose characteristics, like you do when setting up a character in a video game. 

I look back and see myself struggling throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, and I wish that I had the words that could express what I was feeling, wishing for more information on what I was experiencing. I see this information on gender and orientation in all sorts of new forms- from picture books that have kids in them with two moms to graphic novels depicting a person’s exploration of gender to fiction that has a diverse set of characters that aren’t killed off.  I wish that I had access to this information when I was younger. 

Yet almost everywhere I look, I see these works, designed to include people and show different experiences, being condemned as brainwashing and dangerous. I see things that I relate so closely to, things that I have experienced, invalidated. 

The Trevor Project estimates that LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to commit suicide than our peers and that almost two  million of us seriously consider suicide every year. The Project estimates that every 45 seconds, one of us makes an attempt. However, LGBTQ youth who have at least one accepting adult in their lives are 40% less likely to attempt suicide.

If Ohio House Bill 616 passes, schools – including nonpublic schools – would be unable to

“Teach, use, or provide for use by any student any curriculum, instructional material, or assignment designed to promote or endorse divisive or inherently racist concepts,

With respect to a student in any of grades kindergarten through three, teach, use, or provide any curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity,

With respect to a student in any of grades four through twelve, teach, use, or provide and curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity in any manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

As a queer teenager, this is terrifying. In the past few years, there have been baby steps toward equality, connectivity and inclusion and this legislation feels like gigantic bounds back. If we can’t explore our opinions and thought processes and identities at school, then what’s the point of it?

It is not only me that feels this way either. We have spent entire meetings in GSA, our schools Gender-Sexuality Alliance, discussing this and the ramifications that this BIll could have on both our club and the school community in general.

On Monday, May 23, the Beachwood Board of Education passed a resolution opposing House Bill 616 for a multitude of different reasons, one of which specifically is that “[The bill]will limit the opportunity for civil discourse that promotes understanding across varying cultures and strip the identities of many students, families and staff in our diverse and international population…”

I am glad that the Beachwood Board of Education has voted to officially oppose this bill. I truly do appreciate the Board working to ensure that Beachwood is as welcoming and inclusive as it can be. 

I attended the Board meeting where this took place. I sat in an uncomfortable chair, with multiple others from school, both from our GSA and not, watching as the Board members voted. Every time a member voted in favor of sending this official statement, I felt like I could breath just a little bit easier. I was relieved that the Board believes that who and what I am is not something that should be pushed away, shamed or silenced.

I truly do appreciate the Board working to ensure that Beachwood is as welcoming and inclusive as it can be, but it scares me that this might not be enough. In the end, we are just one school district.

I know that most people have heard the saying, “But think of the children.” I understand the motive behind this because we are vulnerable; but we are also the future. 

School is a place where we are able to learn and are encouraged to explore our interests and beliefs, where we learn skills that enable us to pursue our goals and the future that we want.  I can’t help but think that this bill is not what is best for us. It would actively discourage and prevent discussion limiting our education and potentially our future.

But how is limiting our education and potentially our future what’s best for us?

So I question the people that support this bill: Are you really thinking of the children, of what is best for us? Or are you thinking about your fear that the world will evolve – forcing you out of your comfort zone?