No More Controversy Over Transgendered Teacher's Hiring

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J -- Months after the hiring of a trans-gender substitute teacher roiled parents at an Ocean County elementary school, the woman was rehired with nary a peep from the audience.

Lily McBeth, 72, was one of several substitute teachers the Pinelands Regional Board of Education voted to hire Thursday night. None of the handful of residents who attended the meeting spoke on her hiring. McBeth underwent a sex change operation more than a year ago.

"I think this is a sign of progress, that the community indeed accepts and embraces Lily McBeth's right to teach in the classroom,'' Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, told the Asbury Park Press for Friday's newspapers.

McBeth did not attend the Pinelands Regional meeting.

A retired medical marketing executive, McBeth was a father of three who was formerly named William. She also worked as a substitute at Pinelands Regional and in the Little Egg Harbor district before undergoing her sex-change operation.

Information from: Asbury Park Press, http://www.app.com

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