The decision removes the federal orders for the schools to enforce measures that said faculty members had to address students by their preferred pronouns and allow biological boys to use girls' bathrooms or vice-versa.
One of the school systems, Delaware Valley School District in rural eastern Pennsylvania, received notice of the change from the Trump administration in February and has since voted to roll back the federal edicts. Another district, Sacramento City Unified, said Monday it "remains committed to the support of our LGBTQ+ students and staff.”
The other affected districts are Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, Fife School District in Washington, and La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and Taft College in California.
Under the Biden and Obama administrations, the department interpreted Title IX, which was designed to protect girls, to include protections for transgender and homosexual students.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the Trump administration, Kimberly Richey, said this week's action reflects the administration’s efforts to keep male students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams and accessing shared locker rooms.
“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” she said in a written statement.
