To the editor:

A recent news article in the Independent was headlined: “Supreme Court declines to step into the fight over bathrooms for transgender students”.

It was interesting to read that settling this battle “ongoing across the country,” is difficult because courts are divided as to whether school policies “enforcing which bathrooms transgender students can use, violate federal law or the Constitution.” Isn’t the school supposed to be an extension of positive behaviors and education learned in the home? A young child, at first, needs help in learning how to use the facilities in a bathroom. When old enough, the child learns that a bathroom is a place of personal privacy and taught how to respect the privacy of others using the bathroom. Respect for others goes beyond any specific law.

Bathrooms are designated as “Boys” or “Girls” and “Men” or “Women” out of respect for a person’s privacy in public places. To allow this type of respect to be denied in public places, such as schools, is unsettling for many children and adults. Many public places now have bathrooms designated as a “Public Bathroom”. This bathroom would be for one person to use at a time, allowing the door to be locked from the inside. Any person could use this bathroom, leaving the bathrooms labeled “Boys” or “Girls” to be used by children who are male or female as identified at birth.

Differences of opinion or belief exist, but each person should be treated with respect.

Trudy Madetzke

Marshall