This blog originally appeared at TRUTHOUT.
An LGBTQ advocate emphasized the importance of President Biden ensuring that states adhere to the law.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, at the time a gubernatorial nominee for Arkansas, delivers a speech during the America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on July 26, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
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Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared on Thursday that the state would refuse to adhere to a federal regulation aimed at safeguarding the rights of transgender students in schools nationwide.
Sanders issued an executive order on Thursday, reiterating Arkansas’ stance to uphold the ban on transgender students accessing bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity and to restrict teachers from using correct pronouns for transgender students without written parental consent. “To Joe Biden and the federal government, our response is clear: we will not comply,” Sanders declared during a news conference.
Arkansas is rebuffing the regulations unveiled by the Biden administration in April, which prohibit discrimination grounded in sexual orientation or gender identity.
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson expressed in a statement that the new rules would significantly impact LGBTQ+ youth, allowing them to enjoy the same educational opportunities as their peers, such as attending dances, using restrooms safely, and authentically sharing their life experiences. Robinson urged school administrators to take immediate action by implementing anti-bias, anti-bullying, and harassment programs to ensure the cessation of misgendering and cruelty toward LGBTQ+ students, thereby guaranteeing an education free from discrimination for every student.
This regulation formalizes a 2021 guidance from the Education Department that instructed schools to interpret federal law to safeguard LGBTQ students from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and marks the reversal of a Trump administration policy that rescinded Obama-era guidance which directed schools to permit transgender students to use facilities corresponding to their gender identity.
“This revised rule serves as a reminder of the original intent of Title IX for over fifty years: to guarantee students a safe environment free from abuse, harassment, and discrimination as they pursue their education,” Robinson remarked.
Sanders’ directive aligns with similar actions taken by several other states, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, and Nebraska, instructing schools to disregard the rule. Many of these states have initiated federal lawsuits to contest the regulation. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration seeking to halt the rule, while Republican attorneys general in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho are mounting a separate legal challenge. Additionally, the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative organization, has filed its own lawsuit against the rule.
An estimated 280,300 transgender youth reside in states where laws have been introduced or implemented to limit their access to gender-affirming medical treatments, participation in sports, and use of sex-segregated facilities or pronoun recognition, according to the Williams Institute. The ongoing debates surrounding these anti-transgender bills have a detrimental impact on the mental well-being of 86 percent of transgender youth, as per a 2023 survey conducted by The Trevor Project.
“This regulation marks a victory for the transgender community and represents significant progress in safeguarding trans youth,” stated Allison Chapman, an LGBTQ legislative researcher, to Truthout. “The Biden administration must ensure that states adhere to the law’s directives.”
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