Former President Trump Friday vowed to roll back protections for transgender students “on Day One” if he wins the November election.
The ex-president told a conservative radio show that he would reverse an order recently enacted by President Biden that would prohibit discrimination in education on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Don’t forget, that was done as an order from the president. That came down as an executive order,” Trump said. “And we’re gonna change it. On Day One, it’s gonna be changed.”
Trump’s remarks refer to Title IX, the federal civil rights law preventing sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive government funding.
Each administration has the power to enforce the law as it sees fit, giving the next president the power to either extend or roll back the protections for LGBTQ people.
“Tell your people not to worry about it,” Trump told Nick Kayal and Dawn Stensland, hosts of Kayal and Company, a Philadelphia talk show. “It’ll be signed on Day One. It’ll be terminated.”
Trump and his Republican allies have been stressing opposition to transgender rights, saying that transgender women should not be permitted to compete in women’s sports or use women’s bathrooms.
GOP-led states have also pushed to ban gender-affirming care for minors who identify themselves as transgender.
Biden and Democrats, on the other hand, underline their determination to expand and strengthen anti-discrimination laws. They point to ample evidence that transgender students are subject to bullying and open discrimination.
Last month, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona rolled out a series of new rules designed to extend the protections to transgender students, effective Aug. 1.
“These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming and respect their rights,” Cardona said at the time.
Americans hold complicated and sometimes contradictory views on transgender people with young people being notably more accepting and tolerant.
About 60% of people surveyed support laws barring discrimination against transgender people. But 60% also say students should compete in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth.
