Criticism and defenses of Trumps Transgender Policy

            President Trump rescinded transgender bathroom rights given by President Obama causing outcry among the LGBTQ community and other activists. Not only was his move unpopular to many, but it was also a little out of character since Trump had not been hard on same-sex issues in the past. This drew criticism from the New York Times when the authors of “Trump Rescinds Rules on Bathrooms for Transgender Students” wrote his stance shift was a sign of “bowing to pressure from the religious right and contradicting his own personal views.” Instead of arguing that Trump thinks unreasonably about LGBTQ rights, journalists are saying he is being influenced by voters, his party or other sources. This notion attacks the concept of President Trump being independent in thought, which was the trait he used to highlight being different from other politicians. Other journalists, from National Review for example, focus more on the protesters like in Jim Geraghty’s article, “What ‘Uproar’ Over Repealing the Obama Transgender Bathroom Directive.” Geraghty takes the attention away from the president’s motivations but argues that the backlash from the decision are insignificant. He reasons that the majority of the country voted for Trump anyway and that the blue districts do not have to give up transgender protections on the local level. The author notes that Obama’s original bill involved “government forcing,” but now it would be left up to more local institutions to protect transgender people. This article concludes that since nobody who supported the directive, voted for Trump, that the ruling is just. The article only has one mention of Title IX though. Even though Obama specified that sex-based discrimination included transgender people, Trump’s administration simply undid all of the Obama administrations alterations to leave the same vague description as before Obama took office. Even without that specification, many argue that Title IX still requires transgender protections just because it is a way to discriminate someone’s gender. Some states have gone on to clarify that the rights apply to Transgender people and some states have even added protections. Jeannie Gersen of the New Yorker predicted issues with Title IX about a year ago claiming that some schools were not equipped to face all of today’s social problems. The author criticized bigoted people for slowing the process of creating an inclusive environment. She says how there were not many actual steps taken in any direction and equates it more to “legal theater.” She concludes the article stating, “The sense that the Education Department has not looked down the road to consider the conflict is only confirmed by its penchant for announcing bold and controversial rules in letters, rather than through lawful processes.” There has not been enough time actually solving the issues with Title IX which made it a vulnerable concept for a new president to change. This has been described as many as another political distraction to other issues by some journalists too. Along with the debates come coverage of protests, but there is very little that has actually happened legally in terms of changes to Title IX or other laws.

Transgander protection roll-back

The Trump Administration sent forth a roll back or revoke for a better word on the Obama Administrations policies on transgender protection. The Justice and Educations departments issued the new guidance after a reported dispute within the administration between Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who backed the withdrawal, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who initially opposed doing so. This is said to be the latest instance of Trump, since the presidential campaign, where he shows mixed signals on gays and transgender rights. Attorney General Jeff Sessions states that, “Congress, state legislatures and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue.” Many parents were with and happy for Trump’s decision on revoking the transgender protections. They did not like how a girl or boy that identified themselves as the other sex for their gender, were able to use the same bathrooms as their children. However; for one teenager in Virginia named Gavin Grimm, this was a nightmare that he could not wake up from. Starting high school and sophomore year as a female student, then coming back junior and senior year as a male student was a real struggle and challenge for the teen. Grimm going to the nurse’s office to use the bathroom because he/she did not know where to go, the boy’s restroom or the girls. So, when Grimm asked the schools main office if he/she could use the boys room they said yes, which made parents lash out at the next school board meeting. Many believe that it’s outrageous to let someone use a bathroom based on gender rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. While others think that it’s time to realize that transgender people have needs too. But Trump’s taking back Obama’s transgender protection does not meet this needs of transgender people but rather take away from them. “Transgender students pose no threat to the safety or privacy of non-transgender students. We all just want to be able to do well and succeed in school while still being able to be ourselves,” statement by Grimm. In one article, it says revoking the transgender protections goes against Title IV saying that it takes away the rights of one due to the sex. However, in a different article it states that Title IV is clear with the ruling of that which it protects against sexism and not against whatever gender one may identify themselves as. Which is the big problem with this case, because everyone’s view is different in regards of how one should be classified either on their gender or the sex they were given at birth. Others argued that this guidance of the Obama protection was a violation of the State’s rights and the filled lawsuits against it. Social conservative’s cheers and applauded the revoke, while a certain mother named Vicki Wilson says that she sympathizes with children who have “difficult personal issues,” but thinks that “young men shouldn’t be permitted to deal with those issues in an intimate setting like a locker room with young women.”