Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds White House's Latest Historic Move to Advance Fairness and Equality

WASHINGTON - May 13, 2016 – Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement in response to the Obama administration's move to protect transgender students' rights to use the restroom that matches their gender identity:

"The Obama administration has demonstrated once again that executive authority can be a powerful tool to fight discrimination in the face of hostile and intransigent opposition.

Today's announcement sends a clear signal to the country that it is immoral to demonize and discriminate against transgender students and the LGBT community. Transgender students are routinely subject to violence, homelessness, and discrimination when they have the bravery to live their lives honestly and openly. These are the students we should lift up as role models, not demonize for political purposes. 

This is the administration that made this country safer for DREAMERs and their families; commuted the inhumane and unjust sentences of hundreds of Americans; banned the box for several agencies; and protected women and LGBT employees of federal contractors. Even as a hostile Congress has done everything in its power to stop the advance of progress, this administration has found a way to bend the arc toward justice.

We still have a long way to go toward building a nation that's as good as its ideals, but today's announcement brings us one step closer. "