Nine Democratic attorneys general have released a video pledging to transgender students, “We will never stop fighting for you,” despite the president’s attacks on trans-inclusive school anti-discrimination policies.

The video — coordinated by the Legal Network for Gender Equity — encourages students to file complaints if they feel their educational rights have been violated. The attorneys general say that state human rights offices and education departments can still investigate concerns about hostile learning environments, despite the presidential administration’s attempts to roll back legal trans protections for trans students.

Related

Iowa must pay $85K because state troopers blocked trans students from Capitol restrooms

“Donald Trump has been goung after the rights of trans students, their families, and anyone who supports them,” says Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, in the video. “When it comes to keeping trans youth safe, we will do whatever it takes.”

“We don’t tolerate hate and we do fight back,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown says. “We led a coalition of attorneys general in supporting a group of courageous trans children fighting for their access to life-saving medical care.”

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

“And we’re going to stand with everybody. We believe in liberty and justice for all. ‘All’ means transgender students, too,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says.

In the video, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark says that her office has been analyzing all of the president’s anti-trans executive orders and actions, adding, “We won’t look away if students are facing hostile learning environments, and we will hold schools accountable under our state laws.”

Dana Nessel, Michigan’s lesbian attorney general, adds, “When the Trump administration weaponized the [Department of Justice] to interfere with families’ private medical decisions, we took them to court.”

“There is broad support throughout the nation to resist the administration’s attacks on trans students,” said Fatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law Center’s president and chief executive officer. “These young people — our children — continue to be bullied by the administration and other extremists in ways that threaten their education and even their existence. Even as Donald Trump has rolled back civil rights enforcement, many states are stepping up to hold schools accountable and ensure every child can learn in an environment free from discrimination. Students need to know there are people who have their back and will never stop fighting for their right to learn in safety and dignity.”

The full video also includes California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield.

The war over Title IX & trans student equality

Title IX is the federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education. The law has been used by both pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ rights advocates to argue for and against equal rights.

On the left, progressives argue that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is inherently a form of discrimination on the basis of sex since it is impossible to discriminate against someone’s sexual orientation or transgender status without taking their sex assigned at birth into account.

On the right, conservatives argue that the general idea behind Title IX is protecting girls and women from discrimination in education and that rights for LGBTQ+ people take away from rights for girls and women, especially when it comes to transgender girls’ participation in school sports.

The current administration has argued that Title IX prohibits transgender people from participating in school sports, using restrooms that match their gender identity, having educators and government education official recognize their gender identity (including names and pronouns). These positions effectively deny trans students an equal education when it comes to specific school programs and facilities segregated based on their sex assigned at birth.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.