Trump cabinet scraps special treatment for transgender students

The US Department of Education has revoked agreements with five school districts and one college that effectively committed facilities to specific treatment of transgender people.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights will no longer enforce or oversee compliance with agreements entered into with the Sacramento City Unified School District in California, the Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, the Fife School District in Washington state, the Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in California and Taft College in California.

While federal authorities supported transgender students during the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, the Trump administration is taking the opposite approach. According to the president, the US government recognises only two genders: male and female.

At the same time, Trump is also clamping down on schools and states that allow transgender students to compete in sports competitions according to their self-declared gender identity. The State Department says it is removing ‘illegal burdens’ and preventing transgender students with male genetic makeup from accessing girls’ teams or shared locker rooms.

(reuters, pir)