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.”
