(123rf)

A school assigning a female-to-male transgender student to stay in the girls' room on a school trip is discriminatory, the state-run human rights body said Tuesday.

The National Human Rights Commission said Tuesday it recommended the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to provide a comprehensive education policy that can attend to the needs of LGBTQ+ students and allow diversity in the classroom.

The NHRC's decision was in response to a complaint filed in February by a student at a Seoul-based high school, who was assigned female at birth but identifies as a boy.

School officials argued they had placed him in the girls' room because having a legally female student stay at the boys' room may violate other students' rights, but the student said this was an act of discrimination.

The human rights council said that the school’s decision qualifies as a discriminatory action, stressing that sexual minorities are entitled to an equal chance to participate in school activities as other students. It acknowledged that the school would have been unable to make a decision on its own, with no clear guidance on such cases.

The NHRC requested that the Seoul education superintendent make a guideline for students using gender-specific facilities, so the LGBTQ+ students would not face disadvantages when using them. This includes the school bathrooms, changing rooms, dormitories, as well as the rooms on school trips.

It also advised the education authorities to conduct a survey to identify difficulties LGBTQ+ students may face in school, and to provide more counselling programs and other supportive measures.

Regional education offices have respective human rights plans for students in their jurisdictions, and in 2021, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education became the first in the country to specify LGBTQ+ students in its plans. This included measures for counseling programs when such students' rights have been violated, and lessons to be provided for students and faculty concerning gender sensitivity.