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Transgender Policy Expected To Be Reversed In East Aurora

Updated 10/18/2012 at 4:15 p.m.

EAST AURORA, Ill. (CBS) -- East Aurora School District 131 board members on Friday are expected to rescind a controversial policy to accommodate transgender students.

The decision would reverse a policy the board approved Monday that allows transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds to their gender identity. The policy also specifies that transgender students are to be called by their chosen name.

Since passing the measure, District 131 board members have been flooded with angry emails. The conservative Illinois Family Institute called it an "outrageous and ignorant" decision.

Approval of the policy was a mistake, School Board President Annette Johnson says. She blames a district administrator for advising her panel the transgender policy was needed under the constantly changing Illinois school code. It turns out, the administrator was wrong.

"We are not for or against any issue. We're sorry for the confusion that it caused," Johnson told CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot Thursday.

The National Center For Transgender Equality says allowing students to live as the gender that they see themselves is critical to bullying prevention and ensuring compliance with non-discrimination laws.

"We never (had) a student or a parent ever come complain that their transgender status was an issue," Johnson says.

The school board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Nancy Harty Reports

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