No, the Trump Administration Did Not Just ‘Rescind Transgender Student Protections’ – They Told Schools to Ignore the Law

Federal Law, Not Obama Guidance, Already Protects Transgender Students – Trump Just Decided to Target Children

The Trump administration Wednesday evening revoked Obama-era guidelines directing schools to protect the civil rights of transgender students, which included helping school administrations understand they must allow trans students to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Here are some inaccurate mainstream media headlines:

Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students (Washington Post)

Trump Administration Rescinds Protections For Transgender Students (Huffington Post)

Trump administration withdraws federal protections on transgender bathrooms in schools (CNN)

Trump administration revokes transgender students’ bathroom protections (The Guardian)

Trump administration withdraws protections for transgender students (The Hill)

What the administration did was to replace Obama guidance, which was supported by court rulings based on Title IX, a federal civil rights law, and replace it with a wink and a nob, a “thumbs up” to schools implying they can ignore federal law, telegraphing the implicit message that the Department of Justice will not enforce Title IX, at least when when it comes to transgender children.

However, as NCRM noted in our reporting on the Trump administration’s move tonight, Title IX does not change depending on who occupies the White House.

Lambda Legal issued a statement in responding to the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Obama guidance. This explains clearly what just happened:

“Trump’s actions do not change the law itself—transgender students remain protected by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972—but abandoning the guidance intentionally creates confusion about what federal law requires. The law bars discrimination – the new administration invites it.”

Transgender students really need to be told this — they need to know this.

Take a look at the whole statement:

Even for a bully like Trump,

attacking children is a new low

Administration withdraws guidance for schools on what the law requires for transgender students

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Education today rescinded the Obama administration’s 2016 Title IX guidance clarifying the rights of transgender students. Rachel B. Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest and largest LGBT legal organization, released the following statement:

“We all know that Donald Trump is a bully, but his attack on transgender children today is a new low. The U.S. Department of Education’s decision to withdraw guidance clarifying the rights of transgender students endangers the well-being and safety of children across the country.

“Trump’s actions do not change the law itself—transgender students remain protected by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972—but abandoning the guidance intentionally creates confusion about what federal law requires. The law bars discrimination – the new administration invites it.

“Betsy DeVos became Education Secretary just one week ago. At her brief confirmation hearing she publicly committed to protecting LGBT students – this harms them. 

“Over the past week Donald Trump has attacked perhaps the two most vulnerable groups of children in America: transgender children and refugee children. While his Education Secretary was busy withdrawing protective guidance for trans kids, his Homeland Security Secretary signed memos that strip legal protections from children who arrive alone at our borders, seeking refuge.

“Now Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary DeVos give us sickening echoes of the racially segregated schools era by claiming that enforcement of this federal civil rights law is a ‘states’ rights issue.’ This is not just a bizarre misunderstanding. We recognize that language. This is a cynical rejection of the federal government’s responsibility to enforce federal law protections for vulnerable students.

“While the Trump/Pence administration wages its War on Children, Lambda Legal will redouble our efforts to protect transgender and other vulnerable kids. At Lambda Legal, we are already in court fighting for transgender students, and we are prepared to sue any school district that discriminates in the wake of the Trump administration’s actions today.”