Obama Directive on Transgender Students Fuels Cultural Battle
- Administration tells schools to accommodate gender identity
- Guidance follows lawsuit seeking to block North Carolina law
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch looks on after announcing federal action related to North Carolina at the U.S. Department of Justice on May 9, 2016, in Washington.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesRepublicans and social conservatives sharply criticized the Obama administration over a directive instructing U.S. public schools to let transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity, the latest dividing line in the country’s culture wars.
The Education and Justice departments released guidance Friday to public school districts across the nation as part of an administration effort to protect transgender rights. Earlier this week, the federal government sued North Carolina over a state law forcing transgender people to use public restrooms based on the sex identified on their birth certificate.