"Male Awareness" to LGBTQ students, "Using a women's room for retreats"...Human Rights Commission "Discrimination"

ⓒYonhap News Agency

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) judged that a school discriminated against transgender high school students who are biologically female but perceive themselves as male, saying they should use a female room at a retreat.

The Human Rights Commission of Korea said on the 19th that it recommended the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and others to "identify the difficulties of LGBTQ students and come up with an inclusive education policy that guarantees diversity."

A, who is attending a high school in Seoul, reportedly told his homeroom teacher before attending the retreat last year, "I want to use the boys' room because I recognize myself as a man," but was told that "I cannot participate in the retreat if I do not use the girls' room."

After hearing the same answer from the vice principal and others, A filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, calling it "unreasonable discrimination."

The school explained that the use of a male student's room while A's legal gender was female could violate the sexual rights of other students, and that it was difficult to accept the solitary confinement that A demanded as the next best option. In addition, the Office of Education and the Ministry of Education also received guidelines to "handle matters within the legal boundaries."

However, the NHRC said that LGBTQ students should be guaranteed equal opportunities to participate in educational activities such as retreats, and judged that the school discriminated based solely on legal gender.

However, he ordered the establishment of a collective policy by the education authorities, saying that it would have been difficult for the school to judge independently in the absence of specific guidelines.

Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital News Team.