HCPSS: Transgender Bathroom Access Will Not Change

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — No changes will be made to transgender bathroom usage in the Howard County Public School System, school officials announced after President Donald Trump revoked a measure urging public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice.

In May 2016, the Obama administration issued a guidance letter to schools nationwide which said that all students should be allowed to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity under federal Title IX protections.

Trump announced his decision to repeal Obama’s guidance letter on Wednesday.

Public schools in Howard County have followed the Obama administration's guidelines on transgender restroom and locker room use, and school leaders said they have no plans to change the policy.

The Howard County Public School System issued the following statement on Thursday with the headline "HCPSS Reaffirms Its Commitment To Support All Students":

In the Howard County Public School System, each school works with children and families, as it always has, to preserve the privacy and rights of all students, including transgender students. HCPSS reaffirms that commitment and will not change its practices.

The Board of Education Policy 1010 applies to all types of discrimination and the Maryland State Department of Education guidelines, specific to transgender students, are as follows:

• Gender Non-Conforming Youth: Guidelines for Gender Identity Non-Discrimination
• Companion Document #1 – Providing Safe Spaces for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth: Guidelines for Gender Identity Non-Discrimination
• Companion Document #2 – Providing Safe Spaces for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth: Guidelines for Gender Identity Non-Discrimination

The issue has already found its way to the courts, with students in Maryland and Virginia among those filing lawsuits last year to gain access to use of the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.

The plaintiffs say that forbidding transgender students from using the facilities of the gender they identify with is a violation of Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in public schools.

One such lawsuit was filed in July 2016 by a 14-year-old from Talbot County, Maryland, who claims he was barred from using the boys’ locker room at St. Michaels Middle School. Instead the student used a unisex restroom to change for physical education, which made him late for class, and stigmatized him, the student’s attorney told The Washington Post.

The U.S. Supreme Court may consider the lawsuit of a Virginia transgender student who is seeking legal permission to use the bathroom that matches his gender identity. Gavin Grimm identifies as a boy, but the Gloucester County School Board would require him to use the girls’ bathroom due to his "biological gender."

In the most high-profile bathroom bill case, North Carolina and the Department of Justice have filed lawsuits against each other over the state's new law that restricts bathroom and locker room usage for transgender people.

By Patch Editors Cameron Luttrell, Deb Belt and Elizabeth Janney.

Image by Scott Beale via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.