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Teacher under fire for ‘bathroom pass’ genders

Posted at 2:54 PM, Apr 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-21 14:54:18-04

A New Mexico teacher’s bathroom passes are being calling “inappropriate” and “rude” because of how they depict gender.

Donna Cravey’s math students were given passes that have the universal symbols for men and women, as one would see on restrooms. Above that, the papers say “Don’t get confused.”

Some students at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque took offense to the text “Don’t get confused,” because it appears to be transphobic. This is compounded by the fact that Albuquerque Public School changed their policy this year to allow students to use whatever bathroom corresponded to their identity.

Albuquerque Public Schools has been vocal on the issue. When someone brought the passes to their attention on social media, they responded saying they were “addressing it.” Monica Armenta, a spokeswoman for APS, told CNN affiliate KRQE the passes were “inappropriate” and “unacceptable” and that the issue has been discussed with the teacher.

A lot of students chalked up the incident to a misunderstanding.

“Years ago, [gender identity] was not a controversial topic,” student Matthew Farmer told KRQE. “It is nowadays, I just don’t think that she sees that and doesn’t understand.”