School Hires Transgender Counselors for Fifth Grade Camp

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An Oregon school district is facing lots of questions from parents over transgender camp counselors for a fifth-grade field trip.

Parents discovered that transgender camp counselors would be in charge of their children and would be sleeping in their cabins at Sky Camp in Fall Creek, Oregon.

Students and counselors will be permitted to sleep in cabins based on their gender identities.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for the campers because, basically, you’ve got a biological adult female pretending to be a boy in there trying to teach these kids right from wrong,” parent William Turner told television station KVAL.

Gary Carpenter, the superintendent of the Fern Ridge School District, said any attempt to question a counselor or a student’s gender identity would border on discrimination.

“I don’t send something out that says, ‘hey, if you don’t want to be in the cabin with a Hispanic kid, or someone who has undocumented parents, or an African-American kid, or a gay kid.’ I’m just singling out this one thing, and the only reason we’re doing this is because it’s a new thing. I see us not continuing to do that in the years to come,” Carpenter told the television station.

The superintendent said parents have the option to request their student not be in a gender-expansive cabin, and although placement isn’t guaranteed, he says it is likely.

“They come with a prejudice of what a transgender kid is or isn’t and believe they’re some kind of threat to their kid, and I just don’t believe that,” Carpenter said. “What I’m trying to do as a district is protect them — make sure they have the same experience at outdoor school as every other kid.”

According to the Oregon Dept. of Education, the rights of transgender students and camp counselors must be honored.

“Gender expansive students should be treated consistent with their gender identity on any school trips, including in assignment of overnight accommodations,” the ODE said in a statement. “Schools should consult with the gender expansive student to proactively address any safety and access concerns the student has, which can include room assignments or roommates, booking additional accommodations, and ensuring facilities access at all travel destinations. Schools should also take the safety of gender expansive students into account when planning travel locations.”

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