The Obama administration issued a directive Friday that gives transgender students in public schools the right to use bathrooms and locker rooms that don’t correspond with their biological genders, the New York Times reported Thursday night. And while the edict is non-binding, it does not come without a threat to withhold federal funding from schools that refuse to comply.
Via the Washington Examiner:
On behalf of the White House, the Departments of Justice and Education will send a letter to every public school district in the country, telling administrators how to create a discrimination-free environment.
The letter states that as soon as a parent or legal guardian asserts a gender identity for the student that “differs from previous representations or records,” the child is to be treated accordingly — no notes from the doctor required. The letter goes on to state that schools may, but are not required to, provide other bathroom or locker room options for students who seek privacy. And the compromise of having transgender students use single-stall bathrooms is outright rejected by the Obama administration:
“A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so,” according to the letter.
Although the decree comes straight from the president’s desk, schools will not be legally bound by it. However, schools that do not cooperate with the government’s recommendation may be liable to lawsuits and the revoking of federal funding.
When it became politically safe to do so, President Obama became an aggressive proponent of LGBT issues, aggressively pushing for gays in the military, gay marriage, and now transgenders in public school restrooms.
Obama’s passion for gay and transgender issues did not go unnoticed by former Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, who wrote in his memoir Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary of War that the only time he noticed Obama show any interest or emotion on matters concerning the military was when the Clinton and Bush era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was raised.
He wrote: “The only military matter, apart from leaks, about which I ever sensed deep passion on his part was ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ For him, changing the law seemed to be the inevitable next step in the civil rights movement. He presumably was also passionate about health care reform, but I wasn’t present for those discussions.”
“One quality I missed in Obama was passion, especially when it came to the two wars,” Mr. Gates said, in his book. “In my presence, Bush — very unlike his father — was pretty unsentimental. But he was passionate about the war in Iraq; on occasion, at a Medal of Honor ceremony or the like, I would see his eyes well up. I worked for Obama longer than Bush, and I never saw his eyes well up.”
Mr. Gates also said Mr. Obama was far more involved and emotionally invested in his push to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military policy that prohibited gays from openly displaying their sexual preferences while serving.
This is the president America wanted. It’s bad enough that he prioritizes the gay agenda above military matters, but would any of us have guessed eight years ago that he would threaten to withhold funds from schools if they refused to allow boys in girls’ restrooms?
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