Last night the Old Bridge Board of Education repealed Policy 5756, a policy that provides guidance to educators in working with transgender students. Under the guise of parental rights, they have made these students less safe today than they were yesterday. I share this open letter in hopes that other advocates and allies will join me in offering educational resources to this ill-informed board, encourage a reversal of this decision, and offer support services to any LGBTQ+ youth in Old Bridge that may need it.

President Sulikowski and Chair Members,

As a member of the Old Bridge community, as a child and family advocate with decades of experience in social work and mental health, and as a parent of children in Old Bridge schools, I am ashamed of your votes for our community this evening in regard to 5756.

While you heard the community speak at tonight’s meeting, you failed to listen. Your votes were clearly decided prior to tonight’s meeting hence your prepared written statements about your decisions.  You voted in political bias and not in expertise, not by hearing the lived experiences of transgender community members, nor by listening to the will of the community who by your own members research overwhelmingly urged the board to not repeal 5756.

Your decision to keep our educators in limbo on what to do in situations where students open up to them or make requests about how they feel most comfortable identifying is in complete opposition to the role you are to play in our community.  Your decision to remove basic guidelines that assist educators in handling sensitive situations is irresponsible.

I urge you to engage with the LGBTQ+ community and educate yourselves on such matters.  My hope is in doing so, you will learn that 5756 is a necessary guideline and protection.  Your actions over the last 6 months, even prior to this vote, have harmed the LGBTQ+ community’s feelings of safety in Old Bridge and beyond. When you show support for these issues you show some of our community’s most vulnerable students that they are seen, cared for, and protected.  Many of you claimed to be making the decision to repeal 5756 to protect students but you are failing to understand the complexities of many of these situations.

I am more than happy to assist in connecting any of you willing to engage with resources to improve your understanding of the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. I would also offer to provide professional education training on the topic so that the board may make more informed decisions in the future. Engaging in such activities may help you understand the urgency of bringing 5756 up for reinstatement at the next meeting.

I would like to pointedly share my disgust with Chair Giordano’s disregard for the LGBTQ+ community when he said, “LGBTQ and the rest of the alphabet”. Your blatant display of disrespect is abhorrent.

Thank you Vice President Jennifer D’Antuono and Chairs Slade, Lent, and Jodrey for voting no to the repeal and attempting to maintain the safety and wellness of Old Bridge’s transgender students.  Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I am eager to hear about the boards plans to improve its education and attitudes on LGBTQ+ matters.