NEWS

Bryant: Obama's transgender bathroom letter 'outrageous'

Mollie Bryant
The Clarion-Ledger

Gov. Phil Bryant wrote on Twitter Friday that the state's education department should disregard new Title IX guidelines from the federal government pertaining to transgender students.

Schools can't force transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that conflict with their gender identity, according to the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice.

Gov. Phil Bryant

The agencies issued a letter to school districts Friday suggesting that discrimination based on a students' transgender status equates to a Title IX violation.

"This is the most outrageous example yet of the Obama administration forcing its liberal agenda on states that roundly reject it," Bryant said of the letter in a written statement. "Public schools' restroom policies should not be shaped by federal coercion."

Mississippi Department of Education spokeswoman Patrice Guilfoyle said in a statement: "A safe and caring school environment is critical to a student’s ability to learn and achieve. The Mississippi Department of Education will adhere to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the joint guidance issued today by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice."

On Twitter, Bryant wrote: "The directive is nonbinding and does not carry the force of law. Because these decisions are better left to the states and not made at the point of a federal bayonet, Mississippi's public schools should not participate in the president's social experiment."

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Thus far, 15 Mississippi school districts contacted have not returned calls for comment, but several have issued statements. Jackson Public Schools spokesman Sherwin Johnson wrote by email that he was out of the office and said, "You may want to check with the Mississippi Department of Education as we and other school districts will follow their recommendations."

Madison County Schools Superintendent Ronnie McGehee did not return calls for comment but issued a written statement that said: "Rest assured, as we end the 2015-16 school year, you will not see changes to current policy."

Rankin County School District and DeSoto County Schools also issued statements that their policies have not changed. Details are unavailable on each district's current policy and whether or not it complies with Title IX as outlined in the federal agencies' letter to school districts.

Hattiesburg Public School District spokesman Jas N. Smith said the district doesn't tolerate bullying or harassment.

"The district will do our best to accommodate the specific needs of individual students in a manner which best serves all of our students and their privacy should that situation arise," he said. "Regardless, we will continue to treat everyone with the respect and courtesy due each of us as individuals and human beings.”

Lamar County School District Superintendent Tess Smith said the district would "craft an appropriate policy that is within the law but protects all of our students."

Schools that receive federal funding can't deny benefits or treat differently a student based on sex unless Title IX authorizes them to do so. The departments consider gender identity and transgender status as sex, meaning "a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.”

According to the letter, after students or their parents notify a school that a student is transgender, Title IX requires the campus to treat students consistent with their gender identity. That means schools must allow students to use facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, that match with their gender identity.

In a written statement, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker disputed the idea of withholding funding from schools "that choose to handle this sensitive matter in their own way."

"These are local issues best decided by those who live in our communities," Wicker said. "Once again, the courts will inevitably have to weigh in because this Administration continues to impose rules without having the proper authority.”

The Hattiesburg American contributed to this report.

Contact Mollie Bryant at mbryant2@gannett.com or 601-961-7251. Follow @MollieEBryant on Twitter.

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