Effective February 22, the Trump administration has reversed the Obama administration’s protections for transgender students in public schools. Under Obama’s interpretation of the law known as Title IX, schools were required to permit transgender students to use sex-segregated facilities that corresponded to their gender identity, rather than their biological sex. This included school bathrooms and locker rooms.
The guidance letter, released jointly by the Department of Justice and Department of Education, rescinds Obama’s decision in its entirety. Because of the Trump administration’s ruling, school districts can again require transgender students to use locker rooms or bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex. This ruling does not apply to locales that have their own protections for transgender students, like New York and California.
There have since been protests outside of the White House after the announcement of the reversal. Civil rights groups worry that the new rule will lead to bullying and violence against transgender students. At SmartSign, we have been supporting the equal restroom access movement since 2014 and have donated our all-gender signs to over 400 organizations across the country.
If you feel that your organization may be eligible for discounted or donated all-gender signs, please email erica@smartsign.com.
Some of the many all-gender signs we’ve donated within the past year!