The Trump administration is expected to issue a letter on Wednesday which reverses federal guidance that required public schools to allow children to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identities, The Washington Post reported.
The guidance issued by the Obama administration last year said that denying transgender students the right to use the bathroom of their choice violates federal law prohibiting sex discrimination.
The latest letter to the nation's schools, which is expected to be issued jointly by the Education and Justice departments on Wednesday, will state that the Obama directive has caused confusion and thus will be rescinded in order to further consider the legal issues involved.
However, the letter, according to the Post, makes clear to schools that the reversal of the federal guidance "does not diminish the protections from bullying and harassment that are available to all students. Schools must ensure that transgender students, like all students, are able to learn in a safe environment."
When asked on Tuesday if the president intended to reverse the guidance, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the Education and Justice Departments are addressing the matter and that Trump considers it as an issue for the states to decide, which contradicts Obama stance.
"All you have to do is look at what the president's view has been for a long time, that this is not something that the federal government should be involved in, that this is a states' rights issue," Spicer said.
The expected new guidelines also comes as numerous states are considering bills similar to one passed last year by North Carolina that stated individuals may only use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to the sex identified on their birth certificates and lays out the conditions by which transgender persons can obtain modified birth certificates, the Washington Examiner reported.
The administration is expected to issue the letter over the objections of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who is against rescinding the guidance, The Post reported.
Some 800 parents of transgender students wrote to Trump last week appealing to him to keep the guidance in order to protect their children from discrimination.
The Obama directive sparked widespread controversy, with opponents saying it was an overreach of executive power and that the guidelines on bathrooms violate student privacy and traditional values.
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