Kagenmi/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Obama administration will issue guidance on Friday calling on all public schools in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.
In a letter that comes as the Justice Department is embroiled in a legal fight with the state of North Carolina over its bathroom law, the administration will describe how schools should accomodate students, citing Title IX.
The guidelines are non-enforceable rules, but the administration has threatened to pull federal aid in states that don’t comply.
As a condition of receiving federal funds, “a school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity,” reads a draft of a letter outlining guidance for schools, obtained by ABC News.
While schools are permitted to offer single-use restrooms, they should not require transgender students to use single-use facilities if their classmates are not also required to use them, adds the letter, which will be signed by officials from the Departments of Education and Justice.
The guidelines were first reported by the New York Times.
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