I am writing in response to the letter titled “Student safety should come first in restroom policy” (Herald, Aug. 17). I agree: Every child deserves to feel safe at school. That includes trans and gender-nonconforming students.
A 2025 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA used federal Bureau of Justice Statistics data to examine states and counties with laws requiring bathroom use by sex assigned at birth. Those laws did not reduce violent victimization by strangers. Someone intent on harassment is not waiting for a rule to permit it.
The same study found that transgender people were more likely to face verbal harassment when forced to use bathrooms tied to their sex assigned at birth. Trans and gender-nonconforming people already experience higher rates of harassment than cisgender people (a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth) when using public restrooms.
In a 2015 survey of trans people in Colorado, 10% reported verbal harassment in a restroom within the past year. A 2022 nationwide survey found 6% had endured harassment, assault or unwanted sexual contact in a public bathroom. The numbers remain troublingly high.
Durango School District’s bathroom policy reflects the data about what truly keeps students safe. Stigmatizing trans and gender-nonconforming students doesn’t make the cut.
Protecting students means protecting all students.
Billie Smith-Haffener
Durango
