A Delta school board member is brushing off criticism of her graphic public statements advocating castration for transgender boys and is continuing to push for schools to ignore the legal rights of transgender students.
“I’m taking a stand. It will not happen here without a change in plumbing,” said Delta School District 50J board member Kathy Svenson this week.
Svenson made her first public-forum statements at a school board meeting in October after she passed out copies of an article by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly’s writing decried the accommodation of transgender students in public schools.
In Colorado, transgender people are allowed by law to access public or workplace restrooms designated for the gender that matches their identity. That was affirmed in June when the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled that a 6-year-old transgender girl, who was born male, could use the facilities for girls in her Fountain school.
“This (use of bathrooms) is a hot topic. It’s a volatile topic,” said Krista Whipple, president of the Gender Identity Center of Colorado.
Svenson has found that out.
Local television and radio stations aired her comments, which then went viral. She was flooded with criticism from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights groups around the country.
Some in her county are calling for her recall, although no formal action has been taken. Svenson said some of her fellow Constitutionalists and Tea Partyers are calling for the recall of the other four board members if they don’t support her position.
Kurt Clay, assistant superintendent of Delta schools, said the district administration does not agree with Svenson’s views.
“We are nondiscriminatory. We welcome all students into our schools,” he said.
Svenson said she has no regrets about saying boys should be castrated if they want to use a girls’ locker room. She said she doesn’t believe there is such a thing as homosexuality or people who are transgender. They are simply confused, she said.
“I was a tomboy growing up. I did a lot of boy things,” she said. “I’m lucky someone didn’t try to tell me I should be a boy.”
Svenson said she would like to start her own school where laws regarding transgender and homosexual students wouldn’t apply.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957, nlofholm@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nlofholm
