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By Dana Bolger • @danabolger • 9 years ago

Education department stands with trans high school student

Fuck yes: Yesterday the Department of Education issued a landmark decision finding an Illinois school district in violation of Title IX — the 1972 civil rights statute that bans sex discrimination in education — for prohibiting a transgender high school student from changing and showering in the girl’s locker room without restrictions. 

In a fairly unprecedented move, the Department has threatened to pull the district’s federal funding if it fails to come into compliance with the law in the next 30 days.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon told the New York Times:

All students deserve the opportunity to participate equally in school programs and activities — this is a basic civil right. Unfortunately, Township High School District 211 is not following the law because the district continues to deny a female student the right to use the girls’ locker room.

You can read more about the decision here.

Header image credit.

New Haven, CT

Dana Bolger is a Senior Editor at Feministing and the co-founder of Know Your IX, the national youth-led organization working to end gender violence in schools. She's testified before Congress on Title IX policy and legislative reform, and her writing has appeared in a number of outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. She's also a student at Yale Law School, and you can find her on Twitter at @danabolger.

Dana Bolger is a Senior Editor at Feministing and a student at Yale Law School.

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