To the Editor:

I look forward to sitting down with my copy of The Bee each week to learn what's happening in our community. Sadly, I didn't get beyond the first page of the June 3 issue when I felt compelled to respond to inaccuracies in the Editorial Ink Drops discussing the use of toilets by transgender students.

I have every confidence in our elected town officials and our school administration that, if left to their own devices, they will continue to ensure the well-being of all students in their use of our facilities, just as they have in the past. That when a girl uses the restroom, or showers in the locker room, she can remain confident that she won't be confronted by a boy (boy: someone with male genitalia). That when a boy is showering or using the urinal, he won't have to worry that a girl might walk in on him (girl: someone with female genitalia). That a girl won't be bunked with a boy on an overnight field trip. And that if a troubled soul is confused about which they are, our administrators will find a compassionate way to accommodate them that doesn't threaten the safety, privacy, and decency of all the students.

As of May 13, we are no longer left to our own devices. That's the day the US Departments of Education and Justice released their radical rewriting of Title IX that dictates, among other things, the use of school bathrooms and locker rooms for every public school in the nation from Maine to Hawaii. Yes, the Executive branch of our federal government has declared that they know better than we what is in the best interests of all the children in our community. And they've told us we must comply, otherwise we'll lose federal funds for our schools.

Here's a quote from their dictate, "A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so." Beyond the privacy and decency issues this would create, how would we protect the safety of (especially) our girls? How would we prevent a boy with nefarious or mischievous intent from accessing the girls' facilities?

Similar words in the dictate apply to overnight accommodations on school trips that our children might take. If we choose to follow this dictate, our daughters might find themselves bunked with a boy.

And there are broader issues at stake here. According to our US Constitution, all legislative powers are vested in Congress - where we the people have representatives - not in the Executive branch. This division of power was instituted purposefully by the framers to protect us from tyranny.

As James Madison once said, "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

Are we, the people, going to abide by this encroaching tyranny?

Sincerely,

Cathy Reiss

42 Obtuse Road, Newtown   June 29, 2016