'Two genders' shirt controversy sparks investigation at Klahowya Secondary School

Klahowya Secondary School students wearing T-shirts displaying the words "there are only two genders" during LGBTQ Pride Month in June has triggered an investigation, Central Kitsap School District Superintendent Erin Prince said during a school board meeting Wednesday at the district's Teaching and Learning Center in Bremerton.

Personal beliefs, discrimination, policy enforcement and student safety emerged as emotional talking points at the meeting, which drew over 100 attendees — including a handful who chose to wear the controversial T-shirts.

"While students have the constitutional rights to express their opinions, we must also ensure safe and secure, welcoming learning environments for all of our students," Prince said. "Students were allowed to wear the T-shirts to school and we also have heard from many in the community that the wearing of the shirts has been impactful. Therefore the district has opened an outside investigation to consider all the information. Once the investigation is compete, the district will follow up with the complainants."

District spokesperson David Beil said the district's risk manager, Clear Risk Solutions, will handle the investigation. Regarding further details on the matter, Beil noted: "Our district doesn't comment on open investigations because we want to be sure that every investigation is fair and through."

Shirts acknowledged as hurtful, but allowed

While Central Kitsap School District did not provide details on how many students wore the "two genders" shirts at Klahowya during the month of June, also commonly known as Pride Month around the country, school principal Scott McDaniel stated in emails sent to staff and multiple parents that the shirts were permitted within the district's dress code and students had a right to wear them in accordance with freedom of speech.

"While we agree that the messaging of these shirts is divisive and hurtful," McDaniel stated in one email obtained by the Kitsap Sun, "it is generally protected by the First Amendment. Washington State case law is clear in regard to 1st Amendment Rights and student expression; students are allowed to wear the shirts to school."

One parent of children within the district, Rachel Jeffords, confirmed during Wednesday's public comment period that she made the shirts. She said her son wore a shirt to school and a teacher escorted him to the office while questioning the shirt's message.

"The teacher was trying to 'woke-splain' that there was biologically more than two genders and the shirt was hate speech," Jeffords said.

Prior to addressing the board, Jeffords told members of the audience that she is not a member of the Kitsap chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national nonprofit which last month was designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an extremist group. Kitsap chapter chair Joy Gjevsvold told the Kitsap Sun that her group, which was directly criticized by several public commenters, did not have any part in making or funding the shirts.

"Our only role in this event has been to support the families of these courageous students as they exercise their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights in a peaceful manner," Gjersvold said in an email. "We have offered support to parents, when they have requested it, in the form of legal resources, offering free pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution, connecting parents to other organizations like our friends at Gays Against Groomers Washington, and sending a note of thanks to (McDaniel)."

Adherence to district dress code questioned

Central Kitsap School District's adherence to its own policy came under scrutiny while it allowed the shirts to be worn in June.

District policy states that "school staff shall enforce the dress code consistently and in a manner that does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group based on race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, national origin, household income or body type/size." It also states that "clothing that is worn must not cause a material or substantial disruption of the educational process" while describing a potential disruption as being "symbols or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class or affects the attendance of another student."

Eli Oldfield, board chair of Q Youth Resources, a local nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ youth and their families and allies through special events, scholarships and advocacy, said multiple students, parents and staff within Central Kitsap School District reached out in June with safety concerns related to the shirts.

Q Youth Resources sent a statement to the district last month which, in part, stated: "Allowing these shirts to remain on campus with the sole purpose of demeaning and degrading transgender and non-binary or otherwise gender-diverse students has created an atmosphere of hostility and harassment of LGBTQ students, families, and staff. This has escalated to the Pride Flag on display at (Klahowya) being torn down and used to harass LGBTQ students on the bus ride home with threats of burning and other violence."

Denise Diskin, a licensed attorney working for the Seattle-based nonprofit QLaw Foundation of Washington, said her organization co-authored a letter to Central Kitsap School District that expressed concern over the district's "failure to address an ongoing bullying and harassment campaign against transgender and gender diverse students" at Klahowya. The letter claims the district violated multiple school policies and state law regarding discrimination.

"We urge the district to follow its policies and the law and stand strong in enforcing the civil rights measures that allow individuals of all genders and sexual orientations to exist fully in their schools, families and communities," the letter reads. "Free speech is merely the veneer being placed upon a campaign of hate, but it is not an excuse for the district to ignore its legal duty to address discriminatory harassment."

'There has been a divisive environment'

Community members attending Wednesday's board meeting offered differing opinions on the shirt controversy and the district's handling of Pride Month.

One parent said if Central Kitsap School District continues to allow Pride Month to be celebrated at schools in coming years, she'd unenroll her kids. Another parent, Melissa Kelstrup, said her family would be considering alternate learning options. She felt that when it comes to personal beliefs, sides were not being treated equally.

"There is discrimination going on in school, probably on both sides of things in all honesty, because as another person has mentioned, there has been a divisive environment created in our school district," Kelstrup said. "It appears to me, as I've heard tonight, that one side has to be respectful to the other, but the other is free to say I'm ignorant for my Christian beliefs or we have blood on our hands."

Longtime district teacher J.D. Sweet questioned why the district would allow the shirts to be worn after learning of how the message affected other students. Sweet referenced a current court case in Massachusetts where a school district sent home a seventh-grader who refused to remove a shirt that had the same exact wording as the Klahowya shirts: "There are only two genders."

"Why are you so quick to defend the tenuous free speech rights of some with all the evidence that their expression is causing hurt, marginalization and an unsafe educational environment?" Sweet asked.

Marlaina Simmons, a parent within the district who previously served on the Kitsap County Council for Human Rights, doesn't believe the shirts are an acceptable form of free speech in an educational setting.

"No child should have to walk into school and see a shirt that either claims they do not exist or that they are wrong," Simmons said. "I can agree to disagree on many things. I cannot agree to disagree on hate. If you do not agree with being LGBTQ, then don't. But that doesn't mean you have to create a shirt blatantly showing hate toward those kids."

Keely Riggs, a 2022 graduate of Klahowya who said she struggles with self image due to bullying experienced at the school, expressed disappointment at the district's handling of events.

"You all promote equity and inclusion at every turn," said Riggs, who identifies as queer and non-binary, "but when a chance for action actually shows up in your schools, you sit idly by and do nothing."

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: 'Two genders' controversy in Central Kitsap school sparks investigation