Parents chanting “child predator” and “resign!” set the tone for the February 8 Clarkstown Central School District Board of Education meeting.
Hundreds of parents and students filled Clarkstown South’s auditorium, split down the middle of the room, literally taking sides about CCSD’s addition of GENDA to the district’s Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination policy.
This policy aligns with an updated New York State Human Rights Law, amended by the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA).
GENDA “expressly prohibits discrimination by educational institutions against students based on…their actual or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression, or other gender-related characteristic, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being transgender.”
Earlier in the school year, a “Stars and Stripes Club” appeared at Clarkstown South, led by junior River Traitz. The club is affiliated with Turning Point USA, whose mission statement advocates “for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses.”
Over the past few months, club members expressed opposition to the policy, claiming that GENDA makes female students vulnerable to sexual harassment and endangers students’ freedom. Traitz appeared on News12, and in a Facebook post encouraged every Clarkstown “parent, student and concerned citizen to unite,” at the Feb. 8 meeting.
That night, the school board opened the floor for public comment at 8:52 pm, giving each speaker three minutes during the hour allotted, fixed by a buzzer. A few members of the Stars And Stripes Club opined against the policy, one stating that “wanting safety isn’t transphobic.” A sixth grader who rose in opposition to GENDA’s protections stated “a penis is a penis,” to thunderous cheers from the auditorium’s left side.
On the right-hand side of the auditorium, several trans students and allies thanked the board for the policy, one sharing that the installation of gender-neutral bathrooms did not adequately serve their needs—both because choosing that bathroom identified them as trans, and because the bathroom was often occupied throughout the day.
Orly Herrard, a founder of an advocacy group called Thorns, shared that the group had collected more than 100 signatures from Clarkstown South female students in support of the policy. Drowned out by shouts declaring the illegitimacy of this Change.org petition, Herrard pleaded with the adults to “please be respectful.”
During an interview, Herrard and Thorns co-founder Nay Grillo explained that the group walked around with the petition and taped QR codes in the school bathrooms, admitting that it was “an act of civil disobedience.” Indeed, the students were reported to both the advisor of the Stars and Stripes club and the school’s principal, and endured both in-person and online harassment.
When asked about this swift and fierce backlash, Grillo addressed two main arguments: The fear that trans girls will harass and assault cis girls in bathrooms, and the fear that GENDA creates an avenue for cis-het boys to enter girls’ bathrooms. Grillo called these arguments “misguided,” continuing, “boys don’t have to pretend to be girls to get into bathrooms.”
The students explained that since there are so few trans girls attending Clarkstown South, the issue is being used to “rile up these parents and make them scared for their children when there is nothing to actually be afraid of.”
At the CCSD meeting, the two arguments Grillo addressed emerged repeatedly once the board opened the floor to adult community members.
Parent Robert Paul feared that the school board is creating “extremely dangerous situations” by “allowing males to enter the female locker rooms and bathrooms.”
Another parent, Peter Bradley (not to be confused with Nyack's Dean Bradley), accused the school board of “lying to the public,” claiming that GENDA is “not a law.”
One community member pointed to the board and said, “you are all child abusers.”
From the other side of the room, a number of speakers thanked the board for passing the policy, refuted the anti-GENDA claims, and requested respect and compassion for all children in CCSD.
Phil Leiter, a parent of Clarkstown South graduates, said to the trans students and their families and allies, “you are not alone in the Clarkstown School District.” Pointing to the parents congregated against the policy, he continued, “six years ago I would’ve been over there…But science advances.”
Parent Christine Cirlin told the board that trans students’ “dignity and their existence is not debatable,” while parent Pete Dominick asserted that “this isn’t about bathrooms or safety, this is about dividing people.” Dominick claimed that the outrage was manufactured by certain school board and community members “so they can win seats on the board and ban books.”
Herrard and Grillo agreed the backlash seemed conveniently timed to the upcoming election. “It’s all scapegoating,” Herrard said.
After final comments, the February 8 meeting adjourned abruptly, with no sign that the school board planned to revisit its vote to adopt the GENDA-aligned policy. Superintendent Marc Baiocco stated his intention to follow the law, and invited any parents who wanted to discuss the policy to call or come to his office for a cup of coffee.
After the meeting, this reporter shared information with the leaders of both Stars and Stripes and Thorns, asking them to speak on the record for this piece. Grillo and Herrard reached out; Traitz did not.