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Denver Public Faculties Superintendent Alex Marrero stated Friday that the Trump administration is pushing “an anti-trans agenda by way of the weaponization of Title IX,” a federal legislation the administration says DPS violated when it transformed a ladies’ restroom to an all-gender one.
“They’ve claimed Title IX prohibits the conversion of a ladies’ restroom to an all-gender restroom,” Marrero stated in a press release. “They now declare Title IX prohibits the usage of any multi-stall, all-gender restroom. This has by no means been true; it stays unfaithful at the moment.”
Marrero’s feedback come in the future after the U.S. Division of Training’s Workplace for Civil Rights introduced that DPS’ restroom conversion at East Excessive Faculty violated Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination. Officers with the Workplace for Civil Rights stated that the all-gender restroom at East Excessive locations a burden on ladies to hunt a single-sex restroom elsewhere, and that DPS is endorsing “a self-defeating gender ideology.”
Marrero strongly disagreed.
“To our LGBTQ+ college students, households, and supporters, we see you, and we won’t stand for these makes an attempt at your erasure,” Marrero stated.
Nevertheless, Marrero didn’t say whether or not or not DPS will adjust to the Workplace for Civil Rights’ calls for, which embody reverting the district’s all-gender restrooms to single-sex restrooms. A DPS spokesperson stated, “We’re nonetheless taking a look at our choices.”
The U.S. Division of Training didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Marrero’s assertion.
DPS’ federal funding may very well be in danger. The U.S. Division of Training lately sanctioned 5 Virginia college districts that it discovered to be violating Title IX for permitting college students to make use of restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender id. All federal funding for these districts — a complete of greater than $50 million — will now be distributed by reimbursement solely, which means the districts should pay these bills up entrance.
Almost 7% of Denver Public Faculties’ price range final yr, or about $96 million, was federal funding, in line with district price range paperwork.
The Workplace for Civil Rights on Thursday gave DPS 10 days to agree with a proposed decision.
Along with reverting all restrooms to single-sex, the proposed decision would require the district to rescind any insurance policies that enable college students to make use of restrooms primarily based on their gender id, undertake “biology-based” definitions for “male” and “feminine,” and concern a memo to all faculties saying they “should present intimate amenities that defend the privateness, dignity, and security of its college students and are comparably accessible to every intercourse.”
In his assertion, Marrero stated the language proposed by the Workplace for Civil Rights is “the damaging rhetoric and definitions of their administration.”
“We are going to defend all of our college students from this hostile administration whereas we proceed to boost the bar on achievement,” Marrero stated.
The investigation into the all-gender restroom at East Excessive was the primary Title IX investigation launched by the Workplace for Civil Rights in Trump’s second time period. Utilizing a disputed interpretation of the legislation, his administration has used Title IX to problem transgender rights insurance policies in faculties.
A January letter from federal officers to Marrero cited a 9News story about East Excessive changing a ladies’ restroom into an all-gender restroom. On the time, DPS stated it was “unprecedented” to provoke an investigation primarily based on a information story. The district stated East Excessive’s all-gender restroom was added on the request of scholars and has 12-foot-tall partitions to make sure privateness.
This month, East Excessive opened a second all-gender restroom, Chalkbeat reported. The second was previously a boys’ restroom, and DPS stated it added it in an try to handle any disparity. However the Workplace for Civil Rights stated on Thursday that the second conversion didn’t repair the state of affairs “as a result of males are nonetheless allowed to invade delicate female-only amenities.”
Marrero stated that reasoning is a shift within the Trump administration’s authorized idea. He additionally criticized the investigation itself.
“Whereas they label this a ‘directed investigation,’ make no mistake: there was no on-site evaluation, not a single witness interview was ever performed, and never one substantive dialog with any OCR legal professional ever occurred,” Marrero stated.
“The district’s requests for dialog, clarification, mediation, and dialogue of treatments all went unanswered,” he stated. “That is unprecedented conduct from an OCR we not acknowledge.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
