Connect with us

National

States urged to ensure bathroom access for trans kids under Title IX

Schools warned that nothing has changed

Published

on

Gavin Grimm, gay news, Washington Blade
Gavin Grimm, gay news, Washington Blade

A coalition of groups is urging states to ensure transgender students like Gavin Grimm have access to school restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
(Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for GLAAD)

With the Trump administration giving up its authority to ensure transgender kids have access to the school restroom consistent with their gender identity, a coalition of 50 advocacy groups is turning to the states to enforce federal law on the issue.

In a letter dated July 18 and sent to state education officials in all 50 states, the groups maintain Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex, prohibits schools from denying transgender kids access to the bathroom according to their gender identity.

“We are concerned,” the letter says, “that the withdrawal of the Title IX guidance might lead some schools to believe that transgender students are not entitled to access bathrooms or other single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identity, or that the law or their obligations under Title IX to protect transgender students have somehow changed. That is simply not the case.”

The letter — spearheaded by the D.C.-based legal group Public Justice — is signed by Lambda Legal, the National Women’s Law Center and 47 other signatories that support transgender rights. Also among the signers is Anurima Bhargava, the former chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under President Obama.

It comes on the heels of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos revoking Obama-era guidance in February that informed schools that discriminating against transgender students, including denying access to the bathroom they think is best for them, amounts to a violation of Title IX.

Last month, the Education Department issued new Title IX rules, informing administration officials that discrimination against transgender kids in schools may in fact amount to a violation of the law, although claims of being denied to restrooms may be dismissed as a complaint.

Adele Kimmel, senior attorney for Public Justice, said in a statement even though a new political party is in control of the White House, the rules under Title IX remain the same.

“Our letter is an important reminder to schools that, regardless of whether the Trump Administration enforces it, Title IX requires that every student — including transgender students—be respected, protected and treated equally under the law,” Kimmel said. “This was true before the Obama Administration issued its guidance on schools’ obligations to protect transgender students. And it remains true, even though the current Administration withdrew that guidance.”

The Obama administration’s assertions that Title IX protected transgender students formed the basis of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Gavin Grimm, who as a high school student sued his Virginia school for access to the restroom consistent with his gender identity. However, courts have reached the decision Title IX assures transgender kids bathroom access consistent with their gender identity even without relying on the guidance.

It should be noted that states were an impetus to the withdrawal of the guidance under the Trump administration. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during the Obama administration spearheaded a lawsuit filed by 12 states against the guidance, which led to a federal judge enjoining enforcement of it. Litigation led by Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson on behalf of 10 more states was also filed against the guidance.

Kimmel told the Blade enforcement of Title IX for trans kids isn’t about states’ willingness to uphold the law, but their obligation to do so.

“Title IX and the U.S. Constitution apply to public schools in every state,” Kimmel said. “Public school districts, colleges, and universities in every state must comply with Title IX and the U.S. Constitution. When they don’t, they may be sued by the injured parties. They may also be sued in an enforcement action by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education, but that’s unlikely in the Trump administration.”

Kimmel said Public Justice hasn’t yet received any responses from states in response to the joint letter from the organizations.

The Washington Blade has placed a request with the Education Department seeking comment on the demands made to states in the letter.

Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief States School Officers, is quoted in the Associated Press as saying his organization didn’t oppose Obama’s guidance, but believes disputes on bathroom access for transgender students should be resolved at the local level.

“These decisions need to be made between states and school districts. It’s not so much a single decision that a state can make,” Minnich reportedly said. “Every kid in those schools needs to feel welcome.”

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports

27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs

Published

on

U.S. Supreme Court (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.

In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”

In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.

The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.

“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.

He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”

“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”

Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”

Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.

Continue Reading

Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

Published

on

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

Continue Reading

New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

Published

on

The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

Continue Reading

Popular