NKC high-schoolers plan walkout to protest gender definition changes in Title IX law
At the North Kansas City high school that crowned a transgender homecoming queen in 2015, students will be holding a short walkout Tuesday to support gender identity freedom.
Oak Park High School Principal Chris Sartain said the passion behind the walkout — planned by students in the school’s Gay Straight Alliance — is supported by the school’s mission: “To empower students to make a difference in their community.”
“A big part of that is helping students find their voice,” Sartain said.
Tuesday’s 15-minute protest from 10:45 to 11 a.m. was prompted by an October article students said they read in the New York Times discussing changes to Title IX laws that would narrowly define gender as determined by one’s genitalia at birth.
Title IX is the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education. The changes proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration would eliminate protections allowed under former President Barack Obama’s administration for transgender people.
Sartain said Oak Park High has a lot of students who are particularly empathetic to students who identify their gender in non-traditional ways. He said those students want to be sure their peers experience gender equity and that everyone feels safe in an inclusive environment where they are valued.
Oak Park High is located in the North Kansas City School District, which this year built gender-neutral bathrooms in some schools, but not at Oak Park.
“Not all of us had read the New York Times article but all of us had heard about it,” said Emily Hilderband, an Oak Park senior and member of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance. “When I got to our meeting I expected to have to comfort people who were upset about it. But people were angry, really angry. We said so let’s do something positive with this anger. We decided on a school walkout.”
Going to the principal with the idea, Emily said, was purely about “making sure we would have a responsible and peaceful event. Actually we were a little anxious about security given the nature of the issue we are dealing with. We knew the school could provide security.”
In April, Oak Park High students were among the thousands across the country who walked out of class in a national call for stricter gun laws and improved school safety measures. That national walkout was organized by the student survivors of the February mass shooting a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Across the country and in the Kansas City area, a number of schools attempted to restrict students’ language during the protests and some school officials threatened to discipline students who left class during the event.
“My school is teaching me how to be a good citizen,” Emily said. “I’m glad that our school is so supportive of us because I know there are a lot of other schools that would not be.”
Students plan to gather in the school’s student parking lot Tuesday and hear speeches from a few organizers before returning to finish the school day.
Emily said only a few dozen students have signed up, but everyone is invited.