King said the guidance is “yet another opportunity to help our students develop the values to contribute to an ever-changing society” and LAUSD “remains committed to providing a safe learning environment for everyone, including transgender students, and ensuring that the entire L.A. Unified family has equal access to our educational programs and activities”. “And we know that teachers and administrators care deeply about all of their students and want them to succeed in school and life”, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
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As Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, the school that will not abide to this letter, could face lawsuits or lose federal aid, as schools are legally obliged to protect its students.
The guidance, which according to CNN, was sent to every public school in the country, contains a directive to school officials to allow transgender students to be able to use bathrooms based on their gender identity. The harshest criticism came from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas, who said, per report from Fox News that they won’t be yielding to “blackmail” from the president of the United States.
The decree to be introduced, offers guidelines on how to avoid discrimination against transgender students attending the school, however it isn’t a statutory law.
And Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said: “It is hard to imagine a more absurd federal overreach into a local issue”.
Tampa Bay area school districts have received an Obama administration directive regarding transgender students.
Almost half the high schools in the 53,000-student Seattle district have gender-neutral restrooms, and students can also use the bathrooms in the nurses’ office, spokeswoman Stacy Howard said.
The letter signed by the Department of Justice and Department of Education explicitly stated that “transgender students enjoy a supportive and non-discriminatory school environment”.
The new guidance says public schools must treat transgender students in a way that matches their gender identity, even if their education records indicate a different sex.
The battle comes amid a wider debate on equal rights in the United States, where a flurry of initiatives have targeted the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities since a historic Supreme Court decision past year legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.
The move comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the so-called “bathroom law” in North Carolina.
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“We will be reviewing the guidance from Washington to see how it adds to our District’s long conversation on this matter (and our community’s overall conversation)”, Varner said in an email. I think it’s a hard issue.
