Trump administration rolls back transgender student restroom protections

The Trump administration issued new guidance outlining which restrooms transgender students can use, potentially sowing confusion in schools, angering LGBTQ rights groups and adding uncertainty to a widely discussed case due to come before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

A letter jointly issued Wednesday by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education announced that the agencies are "withdrawing the statements of policy and guidance" issued last year by the Obama administration that allowed students to use restrooms of their chosen gender.

The Wednesday letter noted that earlier guidance documents citing TItle IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs or activities, "do not ... contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX, nor did they undergo any formal public process."

The letter is signed by Sandra Battle, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Department of Education, and T.E. Wheeler, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, Department of Justice.

Protests continued Wednesday outside of the White House and organizations advocating for transgender youth condemned the administration for its decision.

"We all know that Donald Trump is a bully, but his attack on transgender children today is a new low," Rachel Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal, said in a statement. "The U.S. Department of Education’s decision to withdraw guidance clarifying the rights of transgender students endangers the well-being and safety of children across the country."

She said Wednesday's move does not change the law, but it does add confusion to the debate. "The law bars discrimination — the new administration invites it," Tiven said.

Said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, "This is a mean-spirited attack on hundreds of thousands of students who simply want to be their true selves and be treated with dignity while attending school."

"This Administration’s action sends a harmful message to transgender young people — that their government does not support them, and that it is fine to single out those who are different," she added,

Gavin Grimm, 17, a Gloucester County, Va., high school senior whose case will likely be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month, said during a rally in front of the White House on Wednesday that his government has let him down.

"I faced my shares of adversaries in rural Virginia — I never imagined that my government would be one of them," Grimm said. "We will not be beaten down by this administration or any. What could happen today does not mean my case ends, which is why we have gathered here outside of the White House — the people’s house — to let it be heard that we will not be silent and that we will stand with and protect trans youth."

The Family Research Council applauded the move, calling it a victory for parents, children and privacy.

"Today’s announcement fulfills President Trump’s campaign promise to get the federal government out of the business of dictating school shower and bathroom policies," council president Tony Perkins said in a statement. "The federal government has absolutely no right to strip parents and local schools of their rights to provide a safe learning environment for children."

Speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump is "a firm believer in states' rights and that certain issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level.''

"The conclusions that everyone in the administration has agreed upon,'' Spicer said, "there is no daylight between anybody, between the president and any of the secretaries.''

But one organization, High School Democrats of America, took issue with the states' rights claim, and cited reports that education secretary Betsy DeVos told President Trump she felt uncomfortable about rolling back the directive.

"Civil Rights are not a 'states rights' issue, and Secretary DeVos' actions speak louder than any claims that she is committed to protecting LGBTQ students," the organization said in a statement. "We will continue to stand with our transgender siblings and will fight to ensure that they are safe in our schools and our communities.”

The Obama administration last year issued guidelines requiring that schools allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their chosen gender rather than their birth gender. Thirteen states challenged the move, prompting a federal judge in Texas to issue a nationwide hold on enforcement of the guidance.

Fifteen states have explicit protections for transgender students, and many individual school districts in other states have adopted policies that recognize students on the basis of their gender identity, Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) told The Associated Press. Just one state, North Carolina, has enacted a law restricting students' bathroom access to their sex at birth. But so far this year, lawmakers in more than 10 states are considering similar legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the Obama guidelines were unlawful because federal Title IX law protects students based on their sex, not their gender identity. He also said that those directives violated the rights of other students, especially girls who may have suffered from sexual abuse in the past and do not want to be exposed to male anatomy. "It's understandable when a 16-year-old girl might not want an anatomical male in the shower or the locker room," Anderson said.

He said that students, parents and teachers should work out "win-win" solutions at the local level, such as equipping schools with single-occupancy restrooms or locker rooms or allowing students to access the faculty lounge.

About 150,000 youth — 0.7% — between the ages of 13 and 17 in the United States identify as transgender, according to a study by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. In perhaps the most visible case surrounding the controversy, a Virginia high school student last year sought to set a nationwide standard for transgender students. A federal appeals court last April ruled in favor of Grimm.

Grimm identified as a boy several years ago and eventually sought to use the boys' bathroom in school. A federal appeals court last April ruled in favor of him, based on Obama’s guidelines, so the new rules could throw the case into doubt.

Actress and transgender activist Laverne Cox earlier this month made Grimm a cause celebre when she told the crowd at the Grammy Awards, “Everyone please Google ‘Gavin Grimm.’ He’s going to the Supreme Court in March.”

The high court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case on March 28.

Activists say changing the federal guidance would leave students with less protection if they want to challenge state or school district rules.

"It is disheartening that the Trump administration’s first proposed education action would be designed to make students less safe,” said Bob Farrace of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The group recommended last year that the federal government create explicit guidelines to protect what it called “a severely harassed and marginalized group of students.”

In an interview, HRC's Warbelow noted that even though Title IX gives students rights, new guidance will likely “sow confusion” in schools and allow unwilling administrators to engage in “bad behavior,” such as unlawfully disclosing a student’s transgender status.

“We obviously are frustrated, angry and disappointed, but we are not surprised,” Warbelow said. While Trump has at times said he supports LGBTQ rights, she said, since his inauguration he has “explicitly promised to undermine our rights.”

Contributing: Kevin Johnson in Washington

Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo; Melanie Eversley, @melanieeversley; Stephanie Solis, @stephmsolis