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I haven't read the article yet, but my I did hear about this earlier today and my initial thoughts are that no, I don't think transgender kids should be using the locker room of the gender they identify with. I also don't think they should be using the locker room of the gender they don't associate with either. I think a unisex locker room, single person use, should be available for any student who chooses to use it, otherwise, I think they should have to use the locker room that goes along with their physical sex.

@Ree723: But doesn't making them use a special locker room just single them out even more?

I think that they should be allowed to use the locker room of the gender they identify with. There seems to be this perception out there (in general, not on this thread) that people (boys) are going to start pretending to be transgendered in order to get to go into the girls' locker room, which is absurd.

I think that a private locker room is more appropriate. I follow in the same lines as @truthbombs. I don't think they should be forced to a locker room they are uncomfortable with, but I think it's unfair that one person trumps the comfort level of the other girls.

My grad school had bathrooms that were M, F, and one that was open to all genders. I know schools might not necessarily have the space to do this, but I felt like that kind of set up helps with everyone's comfort. I always used the open bathroom--I remember my male friend and I both had to pee and we went to the bathroom together and it was kind of cool.

I am very open and liberal and think that transgender people should be able to go to the bathroom they feel most comfortable going in. But I also think that since we're talking about kids and growing up and development--I hated the locker rooms when I was a kid, changing in front of people, yuck. I agree with @Truth Bombs: in that we need to take everyone's comfort levels into account when there are kids. For adults--no holds barred!

Also, I used to work at a great organization and we always did PGP (preferred gender pronouns) so that you got to know what people preferred. My PGPs are she and her. I know people who prefer she and they or zie or no pronouns at all just names.

@Ree723: I completely agree.

I don't think anyone should be able to just choose which locker room they use, whatever the reasons! I find that unfair and uncomfortable. Unisex options, private rooms.

I think they should be allowed to use the bathroom/locker room of the gender they identify with. I read this article a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a good read.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/117397-why-we-should-absolutely-let-transgender-students-use-locker-rooms-with-cisgender-students

I'm for letting them use whatever they are most comfortable with. My experience in high school was that most girls were modest anyway - always leaving on underwear/bras. There were also bathroom stalls some girls changed in to have complete privacy. This doesn't seem like a big deal to me. If there is a private changing room, I think it should be an option to use it, but not be required. I also feel like if someone is uncomfortable with the fact that a trans kid is allowed to use a locker room, then the kid who is uncomfortable should have the option to use a private changing room.

Regardless of the biological sex of a person, if someone is looking at you inappropriately or touching you in a locker room - that is against the rules and that person should be disciplined.

I don't see a real argument for those that are uncomfortable with it - that same argument is used to ban homosexual people from using the same locker room as heterosexual people.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I understand that reasoning. I guess from my perspective if you are uncomfortable seeing them, you can change your location/use private facilities/turn your back to them. I'm talking more about the inverse argument I hear - that they don't want the transgendered/homosexual person seeing them.

@Ree723: I think this is a good solution.

I don't think a CHILD should be able to choose what locker room they identify with. If they were born a girl, they use the girl's room, boy, boy's room.

If we allow kids to say they identify with another gender in school (before they are an adult) and allow them to decide what locker room they change in, there WILL be issues. No doubt. Maybe not issues with that child but with others who actually don't have gender identification issues pretending they do.

I don't think the article addressed whether the student had surgery.
If she hasn't had gender reversal surgery, she definitely should not be showering with other girls in the girls' locker room.
I think a private shower/changing area is a good solution.

@mediagirl: Uh, trans people face tremendous discrimination (including your own invalidation of minors being able to know their own gender identity). I don't think anyone (*especially* a minor) would self-identify as trans and lead their life as another gender just to get of a glimpse of boobs in the locker room.

@catomd00: But whether or not YOU can understand why a teenage girl might be uncomfortable having to shower and change in the same room as someone who has a penis doesn't really matter. I can't understand the feeling of wanting to be a different gender than the one I was born as, but that doesn't mean that I invalidate someone else feeling that way. I just feel that the comfort of all students should be respected equally.

@ms.line: I didn't say kids couldn't identify as transgender or whatever. I said that a child (a minor) should not be given the ability to choose their locker room.

@erinpye: right wing debunking websites are my favorite!

@mediagirl: I think it would be pretty easy to tell to the difference between a transgendered child and a troublemaker pretending they are.

@TemperanceBrennan: Yikes, I think that's a bold statement. That would be a pretty terrible thing to get wrong. I think it's highly unlikely a student would go to the trouble of faking being transgendered. But if would be awful if a teacher or administrator just decided it was "obvious" that a child was faking when in fact, they weren't.

I think they should absolutely be able to use the bathroom or locker room of the gender identified with. The best solution would be, I think, to have a gender neutral private locker room option - but I don’t think anyone should be forced to use that option if it’s available, and I don't think one should necessarily have to be created.

When I was in high school, I think a pre-op trans girl could have easily used our locker room without much notice. Despite soft-core movies to the contrary, we are not all checking each other out and chilling in there naked for extended periods of time. Every gym I’ve ever belonged to (including school gyms) had private shower options; not just like one huge shower room without any curtains. Heck, at the on-site work gym I use today the same is true. Everyone is modest and nobody’s junk is hanging out. It would be easy to find someone who was "checking out" others or otherwise being sketchy.

I can't imagine any boy is going to pretend to be trans just to maybe get a glimpse into the girls locker rooms.