in this gender revolution--

bathrooms.

And nowhere is that battle more heated than in public schools.

Now, even the Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the case

of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia,

who's fighting for the right to use the bathroom that

corresponds to the gender he identifies as,

not the gender he was assigned at birth.

I'm not looking for separate but equal,

I'm looking for the same opportunities

that my peers enjoy every single day.

And that includes using the same restroom as any other student.

NARRATOR: But one school in South Central LA

is already forging ahead.

The Santee Education Complex High School.

In 2016 it opened what's considered

the nation's first gender neutral, multi-stall restroom.

A cause for celebration for some,

a lightning rod for others.

Santee is part of the LA Unified School District,

which represents nearly 1,100 schools

and more than 640,000 students.

It's a district that's been on the front lines of this issue

for years.

The LA Unified School District has had transgender-affirming

policies since 2005.

NARRATOR: That was more than a decade

before President Obama told schools across the country

to open their bathrooms to transgender students

or face losing federal funds.

The policy that we wrote 10 years ago

was inspired by a family with a transgender first grader.

The policy is actually pretty simple, that our transgender

students can access all facilities based on

their affirmed gender identity.

In LA Unified a student who is transgender

can change their name, their pronoun, and access facilities.

NARRATOR: It's a whole new world for educators.

So LA Unified trains them in everything,

from roll call in homeroom, diplomas at graduation,

and, yes, the question of who can use which bathroom.

So we're going to do a little test.

There's going to be some slides that come up

and I just want you to call out the people

in the slide, what is the bathroom that you

would probably direct them to.

So if a student named John comes back from spring vacation

and says my name is April and I would like you to refer

to me by she and her, we sit down with this student,

usually a counselor will talk to them

and ask them what's going on, how long have

you been feeling like this.

We make a plan with that student.

What is it that you need?

Do you want to change how you're known at school completely?

Do you want us to change the name on the roster?

Which are things that we're capable of doing.

When a student is transitioning and they meet with their school

and they talk about their identity

as something that is affirmed, is deeply rooted,

it is consistent, it is persistent.

You can't be transgender just for fifth period PE to have

access to the locker room.

We would not allow that because it needs to be genuine.

And if the administrator has a reasonable suspicion

that the request is not legitimate,

they do not have to honor it.

The situation of a student, a male student--

interestingly we only seem to worry about our male students--

but a male student pretended to be transgender

so he can, for predatory reasons,

have access to a female facility.

I think that's rather ridiculous.

I've heard all kinds of fears expressed

just through the media.

None of those fears have ever been realized.

Ever.

We have never had the type of fearful misconduct

that people talk about with our transgender students.

That has never happened.

Last year I got 17 phone calls in three days,

from elementary schools, mind you,

that had transgender students whose

parents wanted them to be able to attend

schools authentically.

There are so many more students who are coming out now,

just because of the national conversation.

When we talk to families we can tell them,

we will be one of the most affirming school

districts in the country.

It's a promise that I am fortunate to be able to make

on behalf of all of us.

I do believe that, as a country, we need to make space

for people who have more fluidity around their gender

or people who are transgender.

Kind of break that rigidity.

So I believe that, as a school district and as a community

and as people who care about others, that the more that we

can do to help people be more of who they are,

the more they're going to be able to be engaged

in their education, follow their dreams,

and be more of who they are.

Our goal is to help people be more of who they are, not less.