Letter to the Editor: Every student has a right

Part of the US Army’s Soldier’s Creed states, “I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army values.” In everything a soldier does, they live by that creed. They are servants for the people of our country. The Army values, in the great Army way of keeping things simple, spell out L.D.R.S.H.I.P. (leadership).

Superintendent Charlie Van Zant Jr. spoke of his military service recently, invoking his obligation to protect the Constitution of the United States. I too, was a member of the Florida Army National Guard and took that very same oath. During my enlistment, I served under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the policy of sexual orientation non-disclosure. When it was repealed, I still did not come out as a gay man. There are many reasons why I did not come out, but mainly, I did not want to endure the inevitable teasing and bullying.

Furthermore, Superintendent Van Zant invoked the words of Thomas Jefferson, by very roughly paraphrasing Resolution 1 of The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. Superintendent Van Zant is arguing that, as a “constitutional officer,” it is his duty to declare unconstitutional the federal directive on transgender student’s rights. Mr. Cravey so succinctly stated many times before, understand your history or you are doomed to repeat it.

Since Superintendent Van Zant invoked the words of Thomas Jefferson, he should then also know that those same Kentucky Resolutions were cited in opposition to Brown v. Board of Education, opposing the desegregation of our schools. I should expect too, that Superintendent Van Zant understands that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled numerous times on this issue of states’ rights.

Following Superintendent Van Zant’s lead, I will paraphrase Andrew Jackson, “I consider the power to annul a law of the United States, which is contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded and destructive of the great object it was formed.”

Since 2009, the Duval County Public School system has partnered with the Florida Department of Health in administering the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The survey monitors health-risk behavior among middle and high school students. Every middle and high schooler takes this survey. Part of the survey monitors sexual behaviors, capturing data on sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, or bisexual).

Of the Duval County high school student population, 12.9 percent described themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). The Williams Institute estimates 0.6 percent of the U.S. adult population identify as transgender. If we use those same percentages, that means roughly 4,500 students in Clay County identify LGB and 210 students identify as transgender.

I grew up in Clay County and attended Clay Hill Elementary, Wilkinson Junior High, and Middleburg High. I loved those schools, along with the teachers and administrators there. Yet still, I never came out as a gay youth. There are many nights I remember crying, praying to God to make me “normal,” and even times I contemplated suicide.

Take a moment and place yourself in the shoes of the youth that identify as LGBT. Growing up is already hard enough, but now your school leadership states they will not “disregard the traditional family values” to “accommodate the demands of a very small minority.” I won’t comment that somehow traditional family values are mutually exclusive to LGBT, but I will point to the numbers again, 4,700 students is not a very small minority.

When you are in a leadership position, such as Superintendent Van Zant is now and was in the military, your ultimate goal is to accomplish the mission, but even more so, is to protect those underneath you. We would never leave a fallen comrade in the Army, why start now?

I plead directly to Superintendent Van Zant, live the Army values that have been instilled in us, show true leadership and protect those that you serve. Every student is depending on you. Every student deserves the right to privacy and security. Every student deserves the right to feel normal.