Aug. 29 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Education has said Denver Public Schools violated Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination by having all-gender bathrooms, amid the Trump administration’s targeting of LGBT rights in public spaces.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened its investigation into the school district in late January after learning a month before that East High School had converted a second-floor, multi-stall bathroom for girls into an all-gender bathroom.
The Office for Civil Rights determined the district violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as there was no girls-only designated washroom on the floor, though there was a boys-only washroom.
The school attempted to rectify the situation by converting the boys restroom into a gender-neutral bathroom as well, but the federal Office for Civil Rights states this still violates Title IX “because males are still allowed to invade sensitive female-only facilities.”
It was unclear if any other bathrooms in the district’s some 200 schools were all-gender facilities.
The Department of Education said Thursday that the district’s Denver Public Schools’ LGBTQ+ Toolkit that allows students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity in violation of Title IX.
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, said in a statement that by having a gender-neutral washroom at East High School, the district create “a hostile environment for its students by endangering their safety, privacy and dignity while denying them access to equal educational activities and opportunities.”
“Denver is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, but it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and harm its students in violation of Title IX,” he said.
President Donald Trump ran on an anti-transgender platform, and since returning to the White House in January has taken several executive actions that affect the LGBTQ communit’s rights, including some that impact public schools.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education found five northern Virginia school districts in violation of Title IX over their transgender bathroom and changing room policies.
Maine, California, Oregon and Minnesota have also been under Trump administration investigations over allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ sports teams.
“In the name of ‘equity,’ Denver Public Schools converted a girls’ restroom into an all-gender facility — putting gender ideology above girls privacy and dignity,” DOE Secretary Linda McMahon said on X.