Edison is repealing protections for trans students

The Edison Board of Education is expected to finalize a vote tonight that will undo transgender protections for students in its schools, following in the footsteps of other school districts in New Jersey that have done the same recently under pressure from a conservative “parental rights” movement. 

Home to one of the largest concentrations of South Asians in the state, Edison is emerging as a battleground on the issue of transgender rights as it relates to the Desi community. At the heart of the issue is guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education known as Policy 5756, which aims to create a safe and inclusive learning environment for transgender and gender non-conforming students. It also states that “a school district shall accept a student’s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required.”

Last month, Edison School Board Member Vishal Patel introduced a motion to repeal the policy, saying it restricts parents’ rights to stay informed about key aspects of their children’s lives.

“It makes it optional for the administration to inform parents about the gender choices of the children and undermines the fundamental role the parents play in guiding the children,” Patel said at the meeting. He and the other school board members did not respond to requests for comment.

Seen from another lens, the policy protects LGBTQ+ students from being outed to their parents without their consent. An estimated 1.4 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. identify as transgender, according to a 2022 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA.

Leo Hegde, who is transgender and grew up in Edison, said it is especially hard for trans kids from communities of color to find safe spaces. The policy protects them from the repercussions of coming out, such as homelessness and mental health issues.

“Desi families have this mindset that LGBTQ+ identities are a Western thing. They think that because my kids are Desi, they won't be trans or queer. I've heard that a lot,” said Hegde, who is Desi.

The issue has been divisive in towns across New Jersey. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows 54% of New Jersey residents believe teachers shouldn’t be legally required to inform parents about a student’s transgender identity if the student fears coming out at home.

Following a 5-3 vote to repeal the policy in Edison on Sept. 30, tonight’s meeting will finalize the decision. Board rules stipulate that any motion requires two meetings and readings for enactment. 

Activist groups said they were caught blindsided by the original motion, which did not appear on the meeting agenda. Community members are expected to turn out in large numbers, mobilized by groups such as Desi Rainbow, Shiv’s Third Eye, ACLU-NJ, New Jersey Public Education Coalition, and Garden State Equality. The groups have organized rallies, written letters, and prepared comments to urge the board to keep the policy in place.

How it impacts the Desi community

Shiv Kulkarni, who identified as gay, was 14 when he died by suicide in 2021. His parents, who live in Livingston, founded a nonprofit in his name, Shiv’s Third Eye, to advocate for youth mental health.

“When I heard about [Edison’s repeal efforts], it brought painful thoughts to my mind because of my lived experience,” said Shilpa Kulkarni, Shiv’s mother.

Kulkarni recalls how her son was not ready to reveal his sexuality to most people, especially to Desi family members. He worried about the stigma of being gay and needed time to process his identity.

A 2023 Trevor Project report found that nearly all LGBTQ+ young people of color reported higher rates of suicide attempts. According to a 2022 Trevor Project report, 28% of LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. also experienced homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives.

Dr. Kani Ilangovan, a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in West Windsor, has worked with many LGBTQ+ individuals who lacked support from family members or faced abuse as a result of their identities.

“Our culture needs a lot of education about LGBTQ+ and trans identities. I feel for these kids who are so afraid to tell their parents. For the school to do it without their consent just inflicts unnecessary harm,” Ilangovan said.

Aruna Rao, Hegde’s mother and the founder of Desi Rainbow, said South Asian families are not any more transphobic than others, but they are vulnerable to being swept up in the “hysteria” around the issue. Many South Asian families fear their children might “catch” being transgender, she noted.

Controversies surrounding the motion

Edison’s attempt at repealing the policy comes on the heels of similar efforts in other towns.

While more than a dozen districts have repealed the policy, three school boards in Middletown Township, Marlboro Township, and Manalapan Township replaced it with requirements that staff must notify parents when gender-nonconforming students request name changes, new pronouns, or other accommodations. State Attorney General Matthew Platkin has filed a civil rights lawsuit stating that such requirements violate discrimination laws.

Like other school boards, including the one in Fort Lee, the Edison school board didn’t list its plans to repeal the policy on its meeting agenda. Mike Gottesman, founder of the New Jersey Public Education Coalition, called this a potential violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. 

“It is obvious that members of this Board had seen what had happened when other districts attempted to rescind the policy and the public outcry against it,” Gottesman said in an email. “They cut the public entirely out of the situation and the decision.”

At tonight's meeting, activists are hoping they will get a chance to change the board's minds.

“There are already people who have voted to keep the policy,” said Rao. “Now the question is how many others will listen to the fact that they are risking their children's lives and change their vote.”

Tehsin Pala is the associate editor of Central Desi.

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