Ellen DeGeneres, Brie Larson and more react to Trump transgender bathroom rights rollback
'This isn’t about politics. It’s about human rights, and it’s not okay'
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Your support makes all the difference.Hollywood came together to show their support for the trans community and speak out against the Trump administration's withdrawal of Obama-era federal protections for transgender students in public schools, supporting their ability to use the bathrooms and facilities which correspond with their gender identity.
The guidelines were spelled out in a letter to public schools last year, based on the Obama administration's recognition that Title IX, the federal law that bans sexual discrimination in school, should include gender identity.
The Trump administration's first letter to schools has rescinded the bathroom guidelines without offering a replacement, in order to "further and more completely consider the legal issues involved"; a move that civil rights groups have deemed dangerous for the future safety of trans students.
James Esseks, the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT project director, criticised the President and called on school districts to continue protecting the rights of their transgender students.
"Revoking the guidance shows that the president’s promise to protect LGBT rights was just empty rhetoric. But the bottom line is that this does not undo legal protections for trans students, and school districts can and must continue to protect them and all students from discrimination," he said in a statement.
"School districts that recognise that should continue doing the right thing; for the rest, we’ll see them in court. We will continue to fight for the rights and dignity of transgender youth, especially now that the Trump administration has decided to turn its back on them."
Many entertainers have equally spoken out against the rollback, reacting in devastation to news that will inevitably put the trans community at further risk.