In February, President Donald Trump and his administration rescinded guidance issued last May by the Obama administration that affirmed the rights of transgender students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the guidance from the Departments of Education and Justice clarified that transgender students are protected from sex discrimination by Title IX, the federal law that bars gender discrimination.

Since then, a rise of nonprofit organizations have become more accessible for youth across the nation.
Professor and Lecturer of Communication Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State), alumni Jade Tumazi thinks otherwise.

“If you are an ally, it’s time for you as an educator to use the privilege you have to come forward and show your support and allyship to the communities that are being marginalized,” As a transgender individual and educator, Tumazi says she works to create a safe space in her classroom where everyone is welcomed. Tumazi further advises other educators to do the same.

Moreover, she expressed that “if you are advocating against trans, queer and GNC folks to not being able public facilities, you are saying that you don’t want them existing.”

Tumazi volunteers her spare time helping LGBTQ youth in the San Francisco area where she lives. She notes the repercussions of anti-LGBTQ support on the youth she works with.

“One individual has expressed to me that their school is not concerned with issues affecting LGBTQ people,” Tumazi said. ”And it’s hard for them to advocate for themselves and others when they don’t have support from the powers at be.”

“What the guidance did was useful for school districts to comply with the law,” Sasha J. Buchert, Staff Attorney and Policy Counsel at the Transgender Law Center (TLC) in Oakland, said.

Moreover, Burchert added, “It sends a terrible signal that our federal government does not have our trans students backs,”

Burchert clarified that her usage of the word “trans” means to include non-binary and gender non-conforming (GNC).

She also agrees that having more all-gender spaces gives trans individuals and families access to restroom facilities. However, she notes that issues have risen due to school districts requiring trans students to use these spaces.

“No student should be required to use an all-gender restroom, which is what many districts do when they get a transgender student,” Buchert said. “This outs them, it invades their privacy and it sends a signal to everyone in the school and anyone who doesn’t know them that they are trans, it stigmatizes them, it affects their mental health and ability to bond with their peers. It’s ridiculous that some school districts think that is appropriate solution.”

Buchert was referring to the case of Ash Whittaker, the transgender boy from Wisconsin who is suing the Kenosha School District for its surveillance of his bathroom usage.

According to her, the school began to issued green wrist bands to monitor transgender students’ bathroom usage while refusing to let him use a restroom consistent with his gender identity.

The TLC represents Whittaker and Buchert says that she and the TLC are awaiting for a decision from the federal court soon, hoping to be favorable.
Buchert urged for people to get involved with their local and state governments, “never let them say they have never met a trans person, just meeting them/shaking their hand humanizes us.”
She ends by saying that this is necessary because many people have “Outdated misconceptions about who trans people are.”