According to UCLA’s Williams Institute, there are 150,000 American transgender youth between the ages 13 and 17.
Under former President Barack Obama, his administration pushed to allow public school transgender students the choice to use bathrooms that corresponded with their gender identity, CNN reported. President Donald Trump reignited the debate Wednesday on whether guidance on transgender students’ use of bathroom and locker room facilities is a state or federal rights issue. The move to allow states to decide has angered civil rights groups.
Education and Justice departments, last year, issued joint guidance directing schools to let transgender students use facilities that corresponded with their gender identity. The letter to school districts and colleges that receive federal funding, CNN reported, was based on Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination in schools.
Though many states have laws consistent with the guidance, CNN reported, lawmakers and educators criticized the directive, saying it was federal overreach that threatened the safety and priva
In a two-page letter Wednesday to public schools, the Trump administration said the Obama-era directive did not provide “extensive legal analysis” of how its position was consistent with Title IX. The letter cited “significant litigation” caused by the guidance, showing the need for “due regard” of the role of states and local school districts in shaping education policy.
Who should provide guidance on a transgender students’ right to bathroom choice?