Who would have thought that being able to use a restroom would be such a monumental issue requiring Supreme Court intervention? It's not, unless you are seeking admittance to a bathroom that does not match your biological identity. The trump administration has announced plans to end federal jurisdiction of Transgender student bathroom rights and place it in the hands of the States, where he feels it belongs. Currently, federal guidelines find that denying transgender students the use of the bathroom of their choice constitutes sex discrimination.
Public schools allow students to use bathrooms that match the gender they identify with, not necessarily the one they were born with.
A little bit of history
Last year, under the Obama Administration, guidelines were issued that required schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms which matched the gender they chose, rather than their gender at birth. A federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide hold on enforcement of these guidelines due to thirteen states challenging them. On the other side, fifteen states have have established clear-cut protections for transgender students. In other states, several independent school districts have adopted policies recognizing students based on their gender identity.
However, Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation, argued that the Obama guidelines violated the rights of other students, especially girls.
What happens now
Under the Obama administration, gay rights were pushed to the forefront, and now the LGBTQ community is fearful that Trump's decision will be a significant setback, even though the White House has stated it would continue to enforce an Obama executive order protecting their rights in the workplace.
It is believed that the decision could impact lawsuits that are currently active across the country. There is currently a hold on the Obama directive, so the decision would most likely not have an immediate impact on the nation’s public school students.
