The mandates were issued last Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education, catching educators across Kentucky off guard and scrambling to figure out how, or if, they should comply.
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The Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule assures that transgender Americans can not be denied “health services related to gender transition” by health care providers that receive federal dollars.
The battle over bathrooms and gender identity has come to a head in recent weeks, at least in some parts of the country.
What’s not clear is whether any transgender students in the district are now using the school restrooms aligned with their gender identities – a practice that would be prohibited under the North Carolina law.
Cunningham said he doesn’t see any problems for school districts to have transgender or unisex bathrooms for anyone who would want to use them.
“There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex”, Attorney General Loretta Lynch stated via CBS Minnesota.
Conservative critics are sharply attacking a new edict from President Barack Obama’s administration that transgender students in the United States be allowed to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.
Edward Powell the owner of Diamond Kutz said, “You can get hate groups and people out to hurt people just because of what they are or whatever they claim”.
“Parents, teachers, and local communities have the right to determine the best way to address these issues without the heavy hand of the federal government threatening to take away billions of dollars of funding that schools rely on to educate our children”.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, in his first comments on the issue coming on Tuesday, did not pledge legal action, a step demanded by GOP state senators objecting to the guidance. The DOJ argues the law violates the rights of transgender people.
At the same time, the guidance makes clear that schools can provide additional privacy options to any student for any reason.
In March, the Vermont Agency of Education issued guidelines that recommend that schools allow students to use the locker room and bathroom that corresponds to their chosen gender identity.
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Some Gwinnett County parents oppose the federal directive, but insist they understand the situation with which schools are dealing.
