People protested for transgender equality outside of the Sarasota County School Board meeting Tuesday evening.
The school board was not speaking about any issues at the meeting, but protesters said that is not why they rallied outside of the building. Nate Quinn said he wants to see more changes within the school system because he does not feel there are enough.
"This is about a lot more than me," Quinn said.
Quinn is a senior at Pine View High School. At his school, students can now use the bathroom of the gender they identify with, but at other schools it is a case by case decision.
"That is not enough. That allows for the school board or the principal or whoever is making this decision of whether a student passes as the gender identity. It's allowing discrimination of all kinds against transgender students," Quinn said.
He and other supporters of transgender equality gathered outside of the school board meeting in order for members to hear their message.
"I think people see me as trying to make a big deal of something that isn't a big deal, and I agree (that) bathrooms are not a big deal. But, I would say equality is a big deal," Quinn said.
The chair of the Sarasota County School Board, Shirley Brown, said while they do not have a policy, they are working with students.
"The administration has assured us that they are making accommodations for all students. We don't want to….and I've made it clear that I don't want any student to be discriminated against," Shirley Brown said.
Brown said if any student feels like they are not being accommodated, they need to contact school board members immediately. Brown said she wants to know about it.
"We have some schools that are just great. They've got single stall bathrooms that's wonderful, but it's not the same in all our schools. We've got to bring that around so we can accommodate everyone," Brown said.
Brown said they do not want to get sued.
"My concern about going forward with being out there on it is that it would then get the opposition up in arms and go to the legislature and file a bill or pass a bill like they did in South Carolina, which I think is wrong," Brown said.
Quinn said he wants to continue fighting because he said this is bigger issue.
"I hope that they adopt an inclusive policy like Pine View did and the next step -I guess- will be all of Florida," Quinn said.
