The Trump Administration announced that it’s retracting federal guidelines that force public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing.
During his daily briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said “further guidance” would come from the Departments of Justice and Education, noting that President Trump is a “firm believer in states’ rights,” likely meaning that the President will roll back the Obama Administration’s Federal government edict in favor of a looser policy empowering individual districts to make their own rules.
Late Wednesday evening, the Trump Administration made the retraction official.
The Trump Administration said that the Obama-era regulations, which require schools to accommodate students who wish to use a gendered bathroom based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, have given rise to “significant litigation.” It went on to note that public schools have “struggled” to implement the rules, while protecting the interests of students and parents.
It also assured those affected that withdrawing the guidelines in no way diminishes protections against bullying and harassment, and says that schools are free to set their own guidelines, allowing transgender students to use a bathroom of their choice, without fear of losing federal funding.
Sources within the Administration said that confusion, delay and the release of a draft document Wednesday morning, were the result of a disagreement between two Cabinet Secretaries, Education’s Betsy DeVos and Justice’s Jeff Sessions. The two were at odds over how best to handle rescinding the rule: Sessions wanted a full withdrawl of the policy, while DeVos wanted a more nuanced approach.
Sean Spicer denied the disagreement. “There is no daylight between anybody, between the president, between any of the secretaries,” he said at his briefing. But he also seemed to indicate that the withdrawing order may only be temporary, as the Administration explores legal options.
The Obama Administration issued the strict Federal guidelines last year, demanding that schools make the transgender accommodations, and threatening that the Department of Education could use its powers under Title IX, which prohibits gender-based discrimination, to punish any school that failed to comply.
Critics assailed the change, not just over concerns that students might feel uncomfortable with the new policy, but because the guidelines greatly expanded the scope of Title IX. Thirteen states, including Texas, sued the Federal government demanding clarification or a repeal. The Supreme Court is due to hear the case in March.
Civil rights groups who had championed the regulations say they will continue to fight to see the requirements reinstated.