MADISON, Wis. – In a different time, state Rep. Jesse Kremer’s proposed legislation, preserving gender-specific school restrooms and locker rooms, would seem like nothing more than a common sense attempt to guarantee dignity and privacy for students.

But in today’s world, where transgender people are demanding what they consider fundamental civil rights, the legislation continues to be a source of controversy.

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An increasing number of transgender students, in Wisconsin and across the nation, have been demanding the right to use the school restrooms and locker rooms of their choice, based on their perceived gender.

Kremer’s bill is designed to protect the privacy of the vast majority of school students, who may or may not be comfortable sharing a restroom and locker room with a student of the opposite biological gender.

It would require schools to maintain traditional restrooms and locker rooms segregated by biological gender, and require the state’s Department of Justice to defend school districts that are sued for following that policy.

It would also require schools to make special accommodations for transgender students who are not comfortable using facilities designated for their biological gender.

In an amendment recently added to the bill, schools would be allowed to offer gender-neutral restrooms that would be open to all students, but the stalls in those restrooms would be required to have floor-to-ceiling walls or partitions, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

The amendment is clearly an attempt to provide alternatives for transgender students while still maintaining maximum privacy.

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But there are critics lurking around every corner.

The bill defies a directive by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which says Title IX, a law preventing gender-based discrimination in schools, gives transgender students the legal right to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their choice, regardless of their biological gender.

The Department of Education has suggested that school districts in defiance of that edict could lose millions of dollars in annual federal aid and be vulnerable to legal action.

There are also many opponents of the legislation at the state level, including the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

One critic, Dan Rossmiller, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, is particularly opposed to the provisions in Kremer’s bill that would give it legal teeth.

It would not only require the state Department of Justice to defend school districts that are sued for following the provisions of the bill, but would give parents the right to sue schools if their complaints about violations of their children’s privacy are not addressed.

“I don’t understand why we’re encouraging people to sue school districts,” Rossmiller was quoted as saying by the State Journal. “That’s troubled me from the start. It puts us into a position where if we comply with state law, we could be in trouble with the feds … and if we don’t comply with the state law, then a parent or guardian or pupil could sue us under this bill. There’s no safe harbor for a school district under this bill.”

The way proponents of the bill view it, parents would simply be given the right to legally force schools to follow state law – or what would be state law if the bill is approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker.

As far as the threat of legal action by the federal government, Kremer clearly believes states should be prepared to fight the feds on this critical issue of student privacy.

“Sure, let’s take it all the way to the Supreme Court,” Kremer said to EAGnews in October.

The bill is currently being considered by the state Assembly’s Education Committee, and no vote has been scheduled, according to the State Journal.