The guidance from leaders at the departments of Education and Justice says public schools are obligated to treat their transgender students in a way that matches their gender identity, even if their education records or identity documents indicate a different sex.
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“The Departments treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations”, the letter said.
The New York Times, which broke the story, reports that the directive does not have the force of law, but schools that do not follow it could face lawsuits or loss of federal aid.
While schools can have sex-segregated teams, eligibility for those teams may not “rely on overly broad generalizations or stereotypes about the differences between transgender students and other students of the same sex”, the guidance says.
“No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus”, Education Secretary John B. King said in a statement Friday.
Under Title IX, schools receiving federal money can not discriminate on sex, including transgender status.
“This is an attempt to unilaterally rewrite long-established federal civil rights laws in a manner that is wholly inconsistent with the intent of Congress and disregards decades of statutory interpretation by the Courts”, the state’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, said.
The federal government and the state are suing each other over the law, which the federal authorities said violates the Civil Rights Act.
“This is a truly significant moment not only for transgender young people but for all young people, sending a message that every student deserves to be treated fairly and supported by their teachers and schools”, Griffin said in a statement.
A Highline Public Schools policy and procedure adopted in 2014 states that “no student will be required to use a restroom that conflicts with his or her gender identity”.
The announcement comes amid heated debate over transgender rights in schools and public life, which includes a legal standoff between the administration and North Carolina over its controversial House Bill 2. But with recent state legislation forbidding transgender people’s access to bathrooms, changing rooms and other facilities matching their identity, the Obama administration has stepped more directly into the fray. “The Departments have resolved Title IX investigations with agreements committing that school staff and contractors will use pronouns and names consistent with a transgender student’s gender identity”.
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Respond promptly and effectively to sex-based harassment of all students, including harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity, transgender status, or gender transition.
