LGBTQ, Civil Rights, and Education Advocates to DeVos: “Reconsider and Correct This Injustice Immediately”

This morning, representatives of the National Center for Transgender Equality, GLSEN, and the Human Rights Campaign delivered a letter to officials at the U.S. Department of Education detailing their opposition to the agency’s recently announced stance of rejecting all discrimination complaints from transgender students who are banned from using gender-appropriate restrooms at school. Nearly 100 organizations around the nation signed on to the letter.

Coincidentally, POLITICO also broke the news this morning that ED has dismissed nearly 80 percent of Title IX complaints by transgender students without investigation in the last year.

Despite the Department of Education’s stated goal of “investigating all claims of discrimination, bullying, and harassment,” it is abdicating its responsibility to uphold the law when it comes to transgender students. As the letter’s authors state:

[The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights’] refusal to even investigate these complaints conflicts with the law in multiple jurisdictions, further emboldens those who seek to discriminate, and betrays the vulnerable students you have sworn to protect. We urge you to reconsider and correct this injustice immediately.

The full letter is available here.