They demand from the SEP a protocol of respect for gender identity in all schools

Carolina Gomez Mena

Newspaper La Jornada
Saturday April 2, 2022, p. 8

Transgender children and adolescents face various problems in schools, because in some their name and gender are not respected, or they are not allowed to go to the bathroom without company, Tania Morales, director of the Association of Transgender Children, told La Jornada.

To avoid those situations that bother and affect infants, the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) should issue a circular to all campuses.

He explained that “in the association we developed a protocol to explain to schools what they should do when a transgender person arrives. This is based on the experience of monitoring these cases, but this should be something mandatory for all schools, and it should come from the SEP, but unfortunately it does not have any guidelines.

Now it is up to the discretion of who runs the school, if the name or gender of the trans person is going to be respected. From the association we explain to the schools, with legal grounds, why it is their obligation to respect their name and gender. This would be easily resolved with a guideline from the SEP, which would say what has to be done.

Morales said that, on many occasions, they also put obstacles in their way when they go to the toilets. They are not allowed to go to the bathroom unless accompanied by a teacher, just because they are trans girls. Imagine a trans girl or boy who is being respected at home, is free and has the support, respect and recognition of her family, but arrives in a public space and has to ask which bathroom she should go to or has to wait for someone to to accompany him to the bathroom.

After noting that 85 percent of the time trans childhoods and adolescents are only supported by their mothers When carrying out the procedures in the civil registries so that their names are appropriate to their gender, she recognized that little by little some parents are leaving behind prejudices and myths, and also support their children.

In the context of the International Day of Trans Visibility, he said that, interestingly, the experience with religious schools is better; sometimes they are much more flexible, sometimes the surprise is the public schools.

There is progress in various states, for example, in 2020, Jalisco was the first to issue a decree so that any person of any age can carry out the procedure in the civil registry. In 2021, legislation was approved in Oaxaca and Morelos for people over 12 years of age, and a decree was issued in Mexico City, also for people over 12.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently carried out an administrative act that allows any trans person residing outside the country to carry out this administrative procedure.

In Mexico City three years ago an opinion was presented that was frozen. Now there is a new initiative so that there is no age limit in the Civil Code.