Notice of Public Hearing - Naming for the School's Gym

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING - NAMING FOR THE SCHOOL GYMNASIUM

The Emery USD Board of Trustees is in the process of considering nominations for the naming of the district’s gymnasium. There will be two public hearings held on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, and June 12, 2019, at 6 p.m. The hearing will be held at Emery USD, Building C (Multipurpose Room).

It is important that your voice is heard. You are strongly encouraged to come and share your nominations at the hearings. In addition, we invite our community to submit a nomination using the Google form. Please click HERE.

The feedback collected through the hearings and nomination forms will be reviewed by the School Board. The School Board is scheduled to approve the name of the gymnasium on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

Current Nomination: Steven Dain, former PE Teacher at EUSD

Summary: In 1976 a popular high school gym teacher was fired from Emery Unified School District after taking medical leave in order to complete the transition from female to male.

Lead by Lewis Stommel, then superintendent of Emery, the teacher who is now known as Steve Dain was charged with “immoral conduct” and “evident unfitness for service.” The teacher, who had been voted teacher of the year and had been with the district for 10 years, successfully sued for wrongful termination. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert K. Barber ruled that the teacher should be reinstated. The EUSD Board then terminated him for wrongful use of leave. Mr. Dain Could not afford to continue to fight. While Dain failed to keep his job, the massive amount of attention his lawsuit garnered highlighted civil rights injustices toward transgender people and cemented him as an icon of the community.

Steve Dain became a successful community college professor and was sought out as a mentor by other members of the transgender community. Mr.Dain was an important person both in the outside, non-trans world and within the community. He passed on October 10, 2007 In naming the gym after Steve Dain, we have the opportunity to both celebrate our renovated gym and recognize the rights of LBGTQ+ to live and work in our community.

Articles for Steve Dain:

• https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/10/archives/teacher-who-underwent-sex-change-loses-his-job-for-a-secondtime.html
• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18059769/the_los_angeles_times/