Dear Edison Board of Education President Patel and Members:
As New Jersey’s largest Asian American advocacy organization, we are writing in response to reports of the Edison Board of Education’s decision-making regarding Policy 5756, a critical policy that protects the health, well-being and safety of transgender and gender expansive students. We join other diverse organizations, including Garden State Equality and Desi Rainbow Parents, and community members in
urging the Board to uphold this policy.
AAPI New Jersey is proud to work with the Edison Public Schools through our Teach Asian American Stories (TAAS) initiative that helps implement New Jersey’s landmark AAPI curriculum mandate, signed into law in 2022, through professional development opportunities, resources and curriculum development. We know firsthand how the Edison School District and its teachers, administrators, and parents embrace diversity and inclusion, and care about creating a culture that welcomes and celebrates all students. Therefore, we were deeply concerned about reports that the Board of Education wanted to repeal Policy 5756, which would be contrary to what we know to be the deeply held core values of the Edison Public Schools.
As the Board is aware, Policy 5756 is a directive that the vast majority of New Jersey’s public schools have adopted to protect transgender and gender-expansive students, after a law was signed by Governor Christie which authorized the N.J. Department of Education to issue such guidance to schools. This directive reaffirms every school district’s responsibility under the law to create a safe and welcoming environment, maintain confidentiality, and provide equal access to activities using a
student-centered framework.
In a school district with a significant Asian American population, we are particularly concerned about the impact of this policy’s repeal on Asian American transgender and gender-expansive students in Edison. The experience of being Asian American places LGBTQ+ youth at even greater risk for poor mental health, and vice versa. The added stressors of racial discrimination, anti-Asian hate, and biases can compound mental health challenges and bullying that LGBTQ+ youth already face. A study released by GLSEN in 2020 found that over half of AAPI LGBTQ students (51.8%) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, 41.1% because of their gender expression, and 26.4% because of their race or ethnicity.
In addition, our partners have called attention to alarming statistics that lay bare how important and life-saving policies like 5756 are, including that 55% of Indian American LGBTQ+ youth were not out to at least one parent about their sexual orientation because of the social and cultural stigma surrounding LGBTQ+ identity, and that 39% of Indian American LGBTQ+ youth have seriously considered suicide. Sadly, the leading cause of death for Asian American youth is suicide.
In potentially rejecting Policy 5756, the Edison Board of Education would not only place students in harm’s way, it would place the District in legal jeopardy. The New Jersey Attorney General has made clear that schools must abide by the NJ Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) and other civil rights laws. In a filing against one school district, the Attorney General said, “‘Outing’ transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary students against their will poses serious mental health risks […] and shirks the District’s duty to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all.”
While individual Board of Education members may be swayed to repeal this policy for political reasons, polls suggest the majority of New Jerseyans, and we believe most Edison residents support 5756 and have serious concerns about informing a student’s family of their gender identity if they do not feel comfortable. We urge you to prioritize the health, well-being, and safety of Edison’s students and NJ’s laws against discrimination, in the face of politics, bigotry, and misguided efforts that do not reflect this community’s values.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at advocacy@aapinewjersey.org.
Sincerely,
Amber Reed
Co-Executive Director
Roslyne Shiao
Co-Executive Director
