Under Obama administration guidance gender nonconforming students were allowed to use bathrooms and changing facilities that corresponded to the gender with which they identified. Last week the Trump administration rescinded the protections, leaving the decisions to states. In the days following, Rhode Island lawmakers, educators, and advocates have voiced their opposition to the rollback.
In a statement, Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Ken Wagner doubled down on the protections currently offered to gender nonconforming students.
“Rhode Island has a strong history of encouraging safe and supportive learning environments, and we intend to continue that practice,” said Wagner.
The National Education Association of Rhode Island, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the state, released a statement of their own, calling the move “disgraceful.”
“We’ve been told since the election that the LGBTQ community had nothing to worry about with a President Trump,” said NEARI President Larry Purtill. “Yet at his first opportunity he chooses to attack LGBTQ youth.”
Purtill said that although Ocean State students remain protected, the Trump administration’s actions reveal a potential threat to those securities.
“I think it sends a bad message that a particular group of students are being targeted, right from the top, from the President of the United States,” said Purtill.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed criticized the federal government for leaving the decision up to individual states.
“Tragically, the Trump Administration has decided to abdicate its duty to protect the rights of transgender students in our schools,” said Reed.
Smithfield High School Principal Daniel Kelley wrote an op-ed piece for The Washington Post in support of gender nonconforming students. In the op-ed, Kelley says his school will continue accommodating transgender students even if the federal government won’t.
On Monday, 15 organizations signed a letter asking school district superintendents to formally reiterate their support of transgender students, if they haven’t already. Providence, Cumberland, East Greenwich, and South Kingston are school districts that already have.
The LGBTQ advocacy group Youth Pride, Inc. was one of the organizations to sign the letter. Executive Director Chris Lauth stressed the importance of tackling what he feels is a negative message coming from the Trump administration.
“We need to be proactive in affirming a safe and supportive learning environment for our transgender students and school districts need an inclusive policy to clearly cite just how that full inclusion will look within their schools,” said Lauth.
In addition to backing the letter to school districts, the ACLU of Rhode Island has requested copies of every school district’s policies regarding transgender students.
