A 55-year-old woman who striped down to her bikini at a school board meeting last month in protest of the district’s policy on bathroom access by transgender students will not face criminal charges, according to authorities.
The regular meeting of the Davis Joint Unified School District’s Board of Education was thrown off the rails on Sept. 18 when Beth Bourne took off her clothes during the public comment portion of the meeting. Bourne, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist based in Yolo County, said she disagrees with the district’s policies that allow transgender students to choose the bathrooms and locker rooms that they use.
Bourne, a member of the nonprofit group Moms for Liberty, held up a gym uniform during her public comment, claiming that middle school students are uncomfortable changing in front of their transgender peers. Bourne is also the mother of a college-age daughter who identifies as nonbinary.
The district’s policy allow transgender students to select a bathroom or locker room aligning with the gender they identify with. Bourne then lifted off her shirt, revealing a sports bra.
“Right now we require our students to undress for PE class, and I’m just going to give you an idea of what that looks like while I undress,” Bourne said while she stood behind the lectern and removed her shirt. The board members nervously looked at each other as Bourne continued to use her allotted three minutes for her public comment.
“So right now, this school district is saying that depending on a child’s transgender identity, they could pick which bathroom they want. Right now we have children self-identifying into different bathrooms,” she said as she removed her pants.
Board trustee Elizabeth Moon held up her hands and tried to cut off Bourne.
“Excuse me, this … this is allowed,” Bourne said, revealing her bikini bottom to the room.
That’s when District Board Vice President Hiram Jackson slammed his gavel to stop the meeting.
“We’re going to recess,” he said, in a video of the board meeting that has since gone viral.
Bourne said she didn’t plan to remove her sports bra at the meeting, but said that’s typically what happens in locker rooms when girls change.
“You of course would be more comfortable having people of the same sex,” Bourne said.
She claimed that multiple students in the district identify as transgender and said this is a problem that makes her uncomfortable. She attempted to put on a PE uniform at the school board meeting before the board abruptly went into recess.
“So, I guess I made the school board uncomfortable, but that was my point,” Bourne said. “The act of undressing should be done within the confines, in the space, of the same sex.”
Bourne said she tried to continue her protest, but the board cut her off a second time as she removed her shirt.
A spokesperson for the Davis Police Department said officers were called to the school board meeting for a report of a disturbance, but by the time the officers arrived the issue had resolved itself. Bourne said she put her clothes back on and agreed to leave. No criminal investigation was initiated by Davis police.
In a statement to The Times, the Davis Joint School District said, “The board is committed to taking public comment during our meetings. As governed by DJUSD Board Bylaw 9323, the Board requires that public presentations to the Board comply with certain procedures. In cases where that conduct disrupts the normal course of business, the board chairperson may pause the meeting and request that those disrupting the meeting leave chambers.”
The district declined to comment on the protest or to discuss any repercussions for Bourne’s actions.
Bourne said she has been served multiple no trespass letters and one restraining order by the school district in connection to her activity as an anti-LGBTQ activist. The restraining order was eventually revoked, according to court records. She is part of a movement of conservative “parent rights” groups who have successfully banned children’s books from libraries that deal with LGBTQ+ issues.
Bourne is a regular attendee to the board district meetings and other public forums in Davis, where she rallies against the school district’s bathroom policies, transgender athletes competing in local sports and LGBTQ+ literature in school libraries.
Her two children have attended the district since preschool and her son is currently a high school student. Her older child, Lily Beth, came out as trans six years ago and now identifies as nonbinary.
Bourne said that her trans child was “transitioned at school by her teachers and counselors.”
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee last year, Bourne and Lily Beth discussed their relationship.
“There wasn’t, like, a deep-seated hatred for myself as a child,” Lily Beth said. “The discomfort I developed for myself was not a product of my queerness, but instead a product of the attitude of people around me, because I was so worried about not being accepted.”
Bourne told The Times she’s happy that her child is thriving and is healthy now in college.
“There was an estrangement between the two of us,” Bourne said, adding they don’t talk anymore because of her work as an activist.
The post Woman undresses at a California school board meeting to protest transgender bathroom policies appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
