The parents of 6-year-old boy who believes he is a girl are threatening to sue the Colorado school system for requiring the “girl” to use a separate bathroom from other girls in the school.
Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis, the parents of Coy Mathis, took their complaints to the Katie Couric show.
Coy’s parents were baffled as to why the school system decided to “single out” Coy who still has male genitals.
Coy, who has identified as a girl since age 4, was pulled from the Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain, CO, and home schooled while the lawsuit winds its way through the courts.
“This is significant for both Colorado and nationally,” said Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, who is representing the family. “For Colorado, it is the first test of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act as related to access to bathrooms by transgender students.
Coy’s parents already lost one round in their fight.
In November, a Maine state court ruled against the couple, deciding that the school did not violate Coy’s rights when it prohibited her from using the girls’ room.
Coy’s attention-seeking parents appeared at a news conference Wednesday to announce their lawsuit on the steps of the state Capitol.
“This automatically singles her out and stigmatizes her,” Kathryn Mathis said. “It sets her up for future harassing and bullying, and creates an unsafe environment. The school has a wonderful opportunity to teach students that differences are OK, and we should embrace their differences, instead of teaching them to discriminate against someone who is a little different.”
News of the lawsuit sparked outrage among parents on message boards everywhere.
Below is a sampling of comments on Britain’s Daily Mail message board:
grumpygramma says:
Absolutely ridiculous to think this child is transgender….the parents have everything to do with it. My sons were both dismayed at age 6-7 that ‘the girls’ got all the cool clothes(colorful)but I never made a big deal about it and they never went any further. If the kid in highschool wants to change genders it’s one thing, but definitely not any younger.Serene, of Miami, says:
Kids don’t even get to be kids anymore. A 6 year old boy can like pink frilly things and dollies and he is still a BOY. Just like a little girl can like cars and sports if she wants. They might even like those things their whole lives, but that does not change their gender. We need to stop telling people who they are “supposed” to be, especially KIDS. Let this boy’s imagination flourish, let him like pink and Dora the Explorer and teach him that its okay as long as he is happy with it and that it doesn’t matter what others say. Instead they have done nothing but twist this kid’s head into thinking he’s trapped in the wrong body when there is nothing wrong with him at all.Tom Sumter, of South Carolina, says:
From the family picture it looks like he has an older sister and another sister almost his age. So maybe he just identified with his older sister’s toys and styles because, at a very young age, that is what he wanted to play with. It’s possible that he truly believes he’s a girl, but it’s also very possible this is just a phase that will pass in due time. By making such an issue out of this and allowing him to “be a girl” instead of just allowing him to wear pink and play with dolls, the parents are setting him up for a lot of unnecessary confusion and a very difficult adolescence.James T, of Minnesota, says:
It’s simple people…if you have a penis you go in the “boys” restroom.
