School district backtracks on transgender student policy

October 15, 2019

JASPER, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia county school district is putting on hold a new rule allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

News outlets report hundreds packed into a Pickens County School District meeting Monday night to debate the policy, and tensions were high as some residents yelled at officials and each other during public comment.

Superintendent Carlton Wilson announced last week that students could use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identities. Wilson says he's since received death threats, and he announced at the meeting that the policy change is on hold until he and the board can discuss it further.

Wilson says the district's transgender students can use gender-neutral bathrooms in the meantime.