Minneapolis Public Schools' gender resource fair gets community dance party as support

The sound system outside Minneapolis Public Schools headquarters blared Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Lizzo. Arriving families were greeted by a crowd of dozens cheering them on , several waving colorful flags and signs.

The state's fourth-largest school district hosted its first-ever gender resource fair Thursday, the latest in a series of events officials regularly put on to help families from various communities connect with each other and learn about community resources.

"This is a celebration of identity and how that's connected to joy," said Ian McGriff, a specialist with the district's Out4Good program.

The fair, which included a presentation on gender affirming care for young children and a story hour, was originally slated for Loring Elementary on the city's North Side. Late last month, a social media account known for publicizing similar events to a broadly disapproving audience spread word about the gender resource fair on Twitter.

District officials and some board members received negative emails as a result, prompting Minneapolis Public Schools to move the fair to the district's headquarters.

"We weren't going to take a chance with these kids," McGriff said.

While a small group of protesters showed up at Loring in the early afternoon, district officials said, none materialized during the gender resource fair and accompanying dance party. Instead, passersby waved and honked their horns in support of fairgoers as the playlist cycled through an array of pop tunes.

Inside the building, parents learned how to support a child who may want to adopt a new name or feels they don't identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. Joyner Emerick, the district's first transgender school board member, said the negative emails in the run up to the fair were largely from people who don't understand the issues trans and nonbinary students face.

"People are afraid that we'll be confusing children. I don't think our kids are confused, to be honest," said Emerick, who uses they/them pronouns. "All the kids that I know have tremendous capacity for understanding the value of the diversity of human beings."

Organizers of the parking lot dance party said they wanted to support students and families attending the resource fair. Former Minneapolis City Council Member Phillipe Cunningham called the outdoor event a "bubble of love."

Emerick attended both events and introduced Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, the medical director of the Children's Minnesota gender health program, who spoke at the fair and testified in support of Minnesota's trans refuge law last month. Emerick said they were heartened that the district scheduled the fair.

"One of my favorite things about this event is that I did not request it — I did not have to fight for it," they said. "We shouldn't always have to be the only ones who are fighting for visibility and inclusion on behalf of ourselves and our communities."

McGriff said Thursday's festivities were all about providing the Minneapolis schools community with "space and grace."

"We need the space to have things like this and we need the grace for those who don't know," McGriff said, adding that the event was meant to be a place where inquisitive parents can openly ask questions and learn how to support their trans and nonbinary children without judgment.

Emerick said interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox and Derek Francis, the district's executive director of equity and school climate, were instrumental in getting the fair off the ground.

During Tuesday's school board meeting, Cox quoted President Joe Biden's proclamation during Transgender Day of Visibility in promoting the fair as an occasion to celebrate "the joy, the strength and the absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know — people who have too often had to put their jobs, their relationships, lives on the line just to be their true selves."

Cox added that the district "aims to be a place where our students, families, staff and community feel and experience a sense of belonging, safety, wellness and respect."

Staff writer Mara Klecker contributed to this story.