Public schools will now be required to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their stated gender identity.
This joint directive from the Departments of Justice and Education comes days after the Justice Department and North Carolina exchanged lawsuits regarding the state's bathroom access law. According to reports, a letter to school districts with the terms of the directive will go on May 13.
The new guidance from the Obama administration seeks to limit discrimination, harassment, and violence transgender students face, and restricts anything the school might do to question a transgender student's identity.
The Associated Press reports:
Under the guidance, schools are told that they must treat transgender students according to their chosen gender identity as soon as a parent or guardian notifies the district that that identity "differs from previous representations or records." There is no obligation for a student to present a specific medical diagnosis or identification documents that reflect his or her gender identity, and equal access must be given to transgender students even in instances when it makes others uncomfortable, according to the directive.
"As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others' discomfort cannot justify a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students," the guidance says.
The administration is also releasing a separate 25-page document of questions and answers about best practices, including ways schools can make transgender students comfortable in the classroom and protect the privacy rights of all students in restrooms or locker rooms.
Read more at The Associated Press.
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