ACLU Comment on Texas "Guidance" Letter Targeting Transgender Students

HOUSTON – Today, the State of Texas issued a guidance letter to Texas schools in response to the federal government’s reminder to public school regarding their legal responsibility to give transgender students access to restrooms on the same basis as all other students.

The following may be attributed to Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas:

“Why in the world is Attorney General Ken Paxton trying to mislead school districts about the law? The order issued by a federal court in Wichita Falls, Texas does not affect school districts at all. As the Attorney General knows, the order temporarily prevents the Obama administration from acting on the guidance it issued on Title IX’s applicability to transgender children. But school districts in Texas that already have inclusive policies to protect their transgender students are free to enforce them. Schools districts considering such policies are free to adopt them. And parents and students who want to challenge how their schools treat transgender kids are free to advocate — and to bring suit if necessary.”