The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Trump bins toilet access rule
United States: Transgender guidelines targeted as federal ‘overreach’
The Trump administration will revoke guidelines that say transgender pupils should be allowed to use toilets and changing rooms matching their chosen gender identity, a government official said.
The decision would be a reversal of an Obama-era directive issued in May. It required state schools to grant toilet access even if pupil records differ or if others are uncomfortable with that.
The White House said Donald Trump believes the issue is for the individual states to decide without federal involvement.
Although the guidance carried no force of law, transgender rights advocates said it was necessary to protect students from discrimination. Opponents argued it was overreach.
The Obama administration's guidance was based on its determination that Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education and activities, also applies to gender identity.
It was not legally binding but sent a warning that schools could lose funding if they did not comply with the administration’s interpretation of the law.
Republicans immediately pushed back, arguing it was an example of federal government overreach and the Obama administration meddling in local matters.
Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick equated it to “blackmail” and said at the time that the state was ready to forfeit federal education money rather than comply with the guidance.
A federal judge in Texas put a temporary hold on the Obama guidance in August after 13 states sued the administration over the requirements. The reversal would be a major setback for transgender rights, whose advocates had been urging Mr Trump to keep the safeguards in place.
The advocates said federal law will still prohibit discrimination against pupils based on their gender or sexual orientation.
Still, they said, rescinding those directives puts children in harm’s way.
Conservative activists hailed the plans to rescind the guidelines, saying those directives were illegal and they violated the rights of fixed-gender pupils, especially girls who did not feel safe changing or using the toilet next to anatomical males.
The change in position could impact court cases involving the federal sex discrimination law, including the case of a transgender teenager denied toilet access in Virginia.