The Trump administration has shown general antipathy for any number of LGBTQ causes, but the most callous right-wing position has to be their treatment of transgender children. You’d think that we could all get on the same page that children should be able to go to the bathroom in peace.
But no. After nearly a year of dodging and skirting the issue, the Department of Education tells BuzzFeed that they are just straight-up going to ignore transgender bathroom complaints:
The Education Department has told BuzzFeed News it won’t investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity, charting new ground in the Trump administration’s year-long broadside against LGBT rights…
Finally on Thursday, Liz Hill, a spokesperson for the agency, responded “yes, that’s what the law says” when asked again if the Education Department holds a current position that restroom complaints from transgender students are not covered by a 1972 federal civil rights law called Title IX.
Asked for further explanation on the department’s position, Hill said Friday, “Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity.”
She added that certain types of transgender complaints may be investigated — but not bathroom complaints.
“Where students, including transgender students, are penalized or harassed for failing to conform to sex-based stereotypes, that is sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX,” Hill said. “In the case of bathrooms, however, long-standing regulations provide that separating facilities on the basis of sex is not a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX.”
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So harassment for failure to “conform to sex-based stereotypes” is discrimination… unless the conformity happens when you pee, in which case Title IX isn’t there for you?
That makes no sense. The problem is not separating facilities on the basis of sex. The problem is having the state define “sex” instead of the student.
Whatever, the Department of Education might no longer care, but the courts are a different thing. Thank God Betsy DeVos is not the final arbiter on the interpretation of Title IX.
The Education Department Officially Says It Will Reject Transgender Student Bathroom Complaints [BuzzFeed]
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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.