On February 22, the Trump administration rescinded the Obama administration’s helpful guidelines on transgender students.
Those guidelines, issued in 2016, directed public schools to allow students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, even if that identity does not match the one they were assigned at birth. New York City public schools and other school districts around country had already adopted this practice, with few, if any, problems. (See the NYC DOE's standing guidelines.)
As the New York Times notes, the Trump administration's move doesn't require schools to immediately change policies:
Individual schools will remain free to let transgender students use the bathrooms with which they are most comfortable. And the effect of the administration’s decision will not be immediate because a federal court had already issued a nationwide injunction barring enforcement of the Obama order.
However, the news sends a troubling message that is being felt in schools and communities, and will likely put trans students at even greater risk. Here are a few resources to help educators create a safe and welcoming environment for transgender students in our schools:
- Educators’ guide on supporting transgender students in K-12 schools, produced by National Center for Lesbian Rights and Gender Spectrum, in collaboration with Human Rights Campaign, ACLU and NEA.
- NEA’s intro to the guide
- GLSEN webinar and related resources
- Lambda Legal has a form set up for trans students to report their complaints.
- GLSEN has put together a Model District Policy on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students to help schools and districts devise intelligent policies.