For my reading report, I chose the documentary Growing Up Coy, directed by Eric Juhola (2016).
The film revolves around six-year-old Coy Mathis, a transgender girl who was barred from using the girls’ restroom at her school. Coy was born with male genitalia but as she grew up, she started identifying as female.
She started off school with what her parents referred to as a boys’ backpack and boys’ clothing. Coy preferred long hair with pink dresses and tiaras. She would throw tantrums and avoid people if her haircut was too short or if her clothes were not girly. Occasionally, she would stand in line with girls and use the girls’ restroom, but her teachers would question her and try to “correct” her.
Despite state-wide anti-discrimination laws, the Colorado-based school instructed Coy to use either the boys’ bathroom or the nurse’s bathroom. Concerned about Coy’s safety, the parents reached out to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) in New York. Shortly afterwards, TLDEF established it as a case of gender-based discrimination and assisted the parents with filing a legal complaint.
When TLDEF reached out to the school, they denied any charges of discrimination against Coy. In their response letter, the school claimed that they permitted her to wear girls’ clothing, used her preferred pronouns, and provided her access to gender-neutral restrooms. The letter referred to Coy with male pronouns and in some instances, female pronouns with quotation marks; the school was downplaying the situation. Additionally, the letter mentioned Coy and her male genitals which might have raised concerns in the future for other girls and their parents.
With the assistance of TLDEF, Coy’s parents publicly went against the Colorado school district. The family was extensively interviewed by several news outlets, magazines, and even talk shows. Eventually, the high-profile case ended up in Coy’s favor and the first ever bathroom bill was passed which allowed transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.
The majority of the film focuses on the parents and the effects of media coverage on their lives. Often, Coy’s parents force her to appear on camera during their many media appearances. The family also had to deal with a fair bit of criticism and online hate. At times, the film feels like an attempt on the parents’ part to justify their choices so that Coy does not question them when she grows up. However, the film not only helped Coy’s but also, other transgender kids benefitted from the bill.
I wish the documentary featured more parents and other children from school. Only one other parent is interviewed, and her child Dillon identifies as female. The mother describes how Dillon requested to change her name to Olivia and that she is a girl. However, the mother continues to refer to Dillon with male pronouns. Oddly enough, she has no issues with Dillon identifying as a girl, but she was upset about the name change. She was fixated on the birth name because she spent a while coming up with a name which she believed to be gender neutral.
I chose this documentary because of its premise. We tried to tackle the issue of gender-segregated and gender-neutral bathrooms in our class discussion. We could not come to a feasible conclusion, but this documentary aims to provide one: bathroom bills. To this day, however, several transgender students continue to face discrimination as some states have introduced anti-transgender laws.
