Fighting Transphobia Every Month at Manhattan's District 2 Community Education Council Meeting

If you're not a deeply involved public school parent or school administrator in the bottom half of Manhattan, you might not know that the Community Education Council for District 2—the sort of forum usually characterized by long evenings discussing absenteeism rates, building maintenance needs, and the like—has, in recent months, become one of the most consistently volcanic points of friction between the tectonic plates of MAGA-inflected bigotry and New York City progressivism.

Last spring, members of the council voted 8-3 to approve Resolution 248, which calls for the New York City schools chancellor to reconsider the current policy that allows kids to play sports in a way that supports their gender identity. 

The resolution was, in a practical sense, meaningless. The CEC's role is to provide parents with a voice in the vast bureaucracy of the New York City school system. It provides input, but it has no power to compel the chancellor to do anything. Then-Chancellor David Banks made it clear that the administration had no intention of overturning the City's enlightened policy. But parents in the district and supporters of trans youth saw the resolution not only as a step in the wrong direction, but one that has real consequences for students' sense of belonging, comfort, and safety in district schools.

They sought to overturn Resolution 248 at subsequent meetings, turning out in large numbers to do so. Anti-trans activists, some bedecked in Trump gear, turned out too. The council's current president, Craig Slutzkin, suffered for his support of the resolution—Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine removed him from his seat on Community Board 5. Slutzkin and the other supporters of Resolution 248 on the council dug in. In June, September, October, November, and January, votes to overturn the resolution failed.

Another vote was scheduled for the council's February meeting this past Wednesday, which is why, at a quarter to six that evening, a crowd of more than a hundred people were gathered outside PS 130 in Chinatown, carrying signs that read "protect trans kids," "science is on our side," and "CEC2 members: do your job!"