The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked
federal guidelines which ordered that transgender
students have the right to use public school
restrooms that matched their gender identity. The
administration lifted the federal guidelines on
Wednesday that had been issued by the Obama
administration back in May 2015.
It will now be up to states and school districts to
interpret federal anti-discrimination law and
determine whether students should have access
to restrooms in accordance with their preferred
gender identity or their biological sex.

Officials with the federal Education and Justice
departments notified the U.S. Supreme Court
Wednesday that the administration is ordering the
nation’s schools to disregard memos the Obama
administration issued during the past two years
regarding transgender student rights. The
Obama memos said that prohibiting transgender
students from using facilities that align with their
gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination
laws.

The two-page “dear colleague” letter from the
Trump administration, said that the
Obama directive needed to be withdrawn because
it lacked extensive legal analysis, did not go
through a public vetting process, sowed
confusion and drew legal challenges.
The letter added that:
“Schools must ensure that all students,
including LGBT students, are able to learn
and thrive in a safe environment.” Attorney
General Jeff Sessions said in a statement
that his department “has a duty to enforce
the law”.

Sessions wrote that the Department of Justice
remains committed to the “proper interpretation”
of the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX
but said deference should be given to lawmakers
and localities. He said:
“Congress, state legislatures, and local
governments are in a position to adopt
appropriate policies or laws addressing this
issue,” Sessions said.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos agreed with the
decision saying that is an issue:
“best solved at the state and local level.

Schools, communities, and families can
find and in many cases have found
solutions that protect all students.”
DeVos also gave assurances that the
department’s Office for Civil Rights “remains
committed to investigating all claims of
discrimination, bullying and harassment against
those who are most vulnerable in our schools,”
and she noted that she considers “protecting all
students, including LGBTQ students, not only a
key priority for the Department, but for every
school in America.”
The decision drew immediate condemnation from
gay and transgender rights advocates, who
accused President Trump of violating past
promises to support gay and transgender
protections.
Advocates said the withdrawal of the federal
guidance will create another layer of confusion
for schools and will make transgender students,
who are already vulnerable, more so.
“Attacking our children . . . is no way to
say you support and respect LGBTQ
people,” said Mara Keisling, executive
director of the National Center for
Transgender Equality.

Others said the practical effect on the nation’s
schools would be muted, in part because a
federal judge already had blocked the Obama
guidance in response to a lawsuit from 13 states
that argued it violated states’ rights.
The Trump administration’s move drew lots of
approval from social conservatives who oppose
the idea that a student can identify as a gender
that differs from their anatomy at birth. Vicki
Wilson, a mother with a child in High school said
she sympathizes with children who have “difficult
personal issues” to deal with, but thinks that
“young men shouldn’t be permitted to deal with
those issues in an intimate setting like a locker
room with young women.”
School district officials in Palatine, bowing to
federal pressure, allowed a transgender girl to
change in the girls’ locker room at her school.
“No school should impose a policy like this
against the will of so many parents,” Wilson said
during a news conference organized by the
Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal
organization.

The letter also puts Trump squarely in the middle
of the civil rights debate: Despite a flurry of
activity in the early weeks of his presidency,
Trump had not previously waded into the issue of
gay and transgender rights. Trump declined to
sign an executive order last month that would
have dramatically expanded the rights of people,
businesses and organizations of faith to opt out
of laws or activities that violate their religion,
such as same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Many took it as a sign that he would take a more
liberal approach on gay issues than his
Republican cohorts.
Advocates say federal law will still prohibit
discrimination against students based on their
gender or sexual orientation. Still, they say lifting
the Obama directive puts children in harm's way.
'Reversing this guidance tells trans kids
that it's OK with the Trump administration
and the Department of Education for them
to be abused and harassed at school for
being trans,' said American Federation of
Teachers President Randi Weingarten