AFT Responds to Trump's Plan to Roll Back LGBTQ Protections

WASHINGTON - Febuary 22, 2017 -American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' plan to rescind Title IX guidance for transgender students:

"By rescinding these protections, the Trump administration is compromising the safety and security of some of our most vulnerable children. Children, not ideology, should be the priority.

"LGBTQ kids face a disproportionate amount of bullying and violence at school, leading to increased levels of fear, anxiety or worse. Transgender students, like their peers, want to live and learn, laugh and love. They deserve the opportunity to do that without worrying whether the attorney general, secretary of education or president of the United States will protect them.

"Reversing this guidance tells trans kids that it's OK with the Trump administration and the Department of Education for them to be abused and harassed at school for being trans. We want to be clear to those kids: It is not OK with your teachers or with us at the AFT, and we will continue fighting to protect you."

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The American Federation of Teachers is a union of 1.6 million professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.