For a long time, the primary battle that the Obama-era Department of Education engaged in involved allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice at school. Now, moving forward, this will no longer be deemed an issue of significance for the current Department of Education.
Liz Hill, the spokesperson for the Department of Education, made it clear that restroom complaints by transgender students were not covered by the 1972 federal civil rights law Title IX, saying, “Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity.”
Hill was quick to point out that many complaints by transgender students would still be investigated by the Department of Education – just not complaints about what bathroom they are allowed to use.
“Where students, including transgender students, are penalized or harassed for failing to conform to sex-based stereotypes, that is sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX,” Hill said. “In the case of bathrooms, however, long-standing regulations provide that separating facilities on the basis of sex is not a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX.”
Title IX has been called into question numerous times over the past few years. It reads, “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Transgender advocates as well as the Obama Department of Education have claimed that the word “sex” is ambiguous, and could be interpreted to mean gender and gender identity as well. Under Obama, this interpretation of Title IX was the law of the land. When Trump took office, though, the administration rescinded Obama’s guidance on Title IX and said that they would “more completely consider the legal issues involved.”
When the issue of what bathrooms transgender students would be allowed to use first went mainstream, it caused quite a stir on both sides of the aisle. Transgender advocates argued that denying transgender students the option to use the bathroom of their choice is a form of discrimination. Meanwhile, those opposing Obama’s enforcement of Title IX have said that allowing biological men to use women’s restrooms is a slippery slope that would make women in the restroom uncomfortable and potentially put them in danger. They’ve also argued that, at a time when American public education is lagging concerningly behind other nations, there are more important issues that the Department of Education should be focusing on instead of putting so much attention on what bathrooms students use.
As of right now, there has been no official announcement of what the Department of Education’s stance on transgender students and the bathrooms they are allowed to use will be. Liz Hill’s statements on the issue came via an interview she conducted with a Buzzfeed reporter, however, there is no reason to doubt that her statements will end up being reflected in the Department of Education’s official policy.
For conservatives, this new approach by the Department of Education has got to come as a welcome relief. There are only so many safeties and rights we can afford to give up in the name of political correctness. The right for men and women alike to have access to a private space away from the opposite sex is not one we can afford to lose.
Already, we have seen horrifying instances of sexual predators abusing the freedom they were given under the Obama administration and using women’s restrooms as their new hunting ground. While there’s no room for discrimination against any Americans, transgender or not, protecting American citizens and their right to privacy has got to remain the government’s number-one concern.
As for the Department of Education, perhaps their number-one concern moving forward will finally be bolstering the education system in the United States and ensuring that people everywhere are able to obtain a quality education that will set them up for future success. At the end of the day, this is a much more important challenge for the Department of Education to take on than attempting to dictate what bathrooms students are allowed to use.
~ Liberty Planet
