Schools must allow transgender bathrooms, Department of Education says

From KGW News ….

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education will tell school districts Friday that federal law requires them to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms “consistent with their gender identity,” escalating the pressure from the Obama administration on the contentious public debate over transgender rights.

In a “dear colleague” letter to school districts first reported by the New York Times, the Department of Education maintains that requiring transgender students to use same-sex facilities violates Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. The letter was provided to USA TODAY by two administration officials who would not discuss it publicly because it hadn’t been sent.

“When a school provides sex-segregated activities and facilities, transgender students must be allowed to participate in such activities and access such facilities consistent with their gender identity,” reads the guidance document.

The move comes the same week that the Justice Department and the state of North Carolina traded lawsuits over that state’s law requiring people to use public restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate, providing an election-year clash on what’s considered a volatile social and political issue.

The guidance doesn’t have the force of law, but tells schools how the Department of Education intends to enforce Title IX in the future. And because Title IX is directly tied to federal education funding, the guidance carries an implied threat: Follow the federal guidelines or risk losing those funds.

The letter is addressed to all schools that receive federal funding, including 16,500 school districts and 7,000 colleges, universities and trade schools. It also applies to charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries and museums that receive federal aid.

But the denial of federal funds appears to be a recourse the federal government is reluctant to take. Addressing the North Carolina law on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration “will not take action to withhold funding while this enforcement action is playing out in the courts.”