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| Education Secretary Betsy DeVos needs to do her job to protect the rights of transgender students |
Last week, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos remarked during a meeting that it's hurtful when her critics claim that she isn't protecting the rights of students.
Really? When I'm glad she feels that way because girlfriend needs to explain why the Department of Education has yet again its their back on transgender students.
From Buzzfeed:
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.
It’s the first time officials have asserted this position publicly as an interpretation of law. No formal announcement has been made.
For nearly a year, the Trump administration took a less clear stance, with officials saying they were studying the issue. When the Education Department and Justice Department withdrew Obama-era guidance on transgender restroom access in February 2017, Trump’s officials said in a memo and court filings that they would "consider the legal issues involved.” Then last June, the Education Department issued another memo saying it was "permissible" for its civil rights division to dismiss a trans student's restroom case. However, in those statements, officials never cemented their intent to reject all restroom complaints issued by trans students.
For the past three weeks, BuzzFeed News called and emailed Education Department officials attempting to pinpoint the agency’s position. 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.
The irony is that it is horror stories about young girls being in danger by being "trapped" in bathrooms with "predators" which has been the center of numerous attacks on the rights and dignity of the transgender community. Evangelical anti-LGBTQ groups have been successful in exploiting this even though there isn't as shred a proof backing it up.
