It’s Time for the Federal Government to Act for Trans Students
The federal government is under fire for stalling on a response to North Carolina’s House Bill 2 and the release of a critical guidance document about trans students’ rights. As more cities and states consider banning trans people from public restrooms, students and their families desperately need the federal government to show leadership and affirm that trans people must be able to participate equally in society, including in something as basic as using a restroom. The New York Times reports that federal guidance has already been drafted, but it’s been delayed for months, even as trans students’ right to exist and live free from discrimination has been under attack.
The Department of Education guidance would clarify trans students’ rights under Title IX, the federal law protecting students from sex discrimination. The federal government has been saying for years that sex discrimination laws like Title IX and Title VII (the employment discrimination law) covers trans people, but many schools need direction about what that means in practice, including about what that means for trans students’ restroom access. This guidance can change—even save—lives. But as Departments of Education and Justice continue to drag their heels, advocates and even legislators have been forced to intervene. Yesterday, 40 U.S. senators sent a letter to Education Secretary John King urging him to release the guidance and reaffirm that “schools permitting discrimination against LGBT students to continue unabated risk losing their eligibility for federal funds.” And LGBT groups sent a letter to the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, last week urging her to do the same.
Both Secretary King and Attorney General Lynch recognize how harmful laws like North Carolina’s HB 2 are. At a conference this week, Secretary King said that measures like HB 2 are “hateful laws and should be repealed.” He emphasized that his department has already determined that “gender identity is protected by Title IX,” adding that “the Department’s guidance on this has been clear for a long time.” Attorney General Lynch also spoke out against laws like HB 2. In an interview published Tuesday, the Attorney General said American society has long stood for equal rights, and “transgender issues are no different, to me, in that regard.” In a March 30 speech, she also said that the Obama Administration “is determined to ensure that transgender individuals can live the lives they were born to lead—fully, without discrimination and with the support of their community and their country.” For over a month, several departments including Education, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have said they are reviewing HB 2 “to determine any potential impact” on federal funding. Meanwhile, NCTE has sent letters to over 700 state and local government entities in North Carolina laying out the federal laws that would be violated by the enforcement of HB 2 and the risks that could create for their federal funding.
But unless Secretary King and Attorney General Lynch turn their words into action and follow through by releasing the guidance and taking a definitive stand on the illegality of House Bill 2, the rights of hundreds of thousands of transgender students are in jeopardy all around the country. NCTE will continue working with our many partners and allies to press the Obama Administration to take action.
