The Obama administration has given an order to require all public schools in the US to have transgender students access to bathrooms consistent with their sexual orientation and gender identity. However, Texas opposes the order. Public schools across the country should follow the guideline treating students in a way that is consistent with their chosen gender. Associated Press reported that a parent or guardian needs to notify the school for the student’s gender identity when a gender is different than the student’s biological sex. No documents or any medical diagnosis is required in order to prove the identity of the student.

In addition, the order states that single-use bathrooms is discriminatory for transgender students. The guidance is an effort to set a uniformity in all schools over the country as there were already previous forceful efforts to open showers,
bathrooms and locker rooms to transgender students.

There is a legal battle from the Justice Department’s entanglement with North Carolina’s passed law requiring their residents to only use bathrooms consistent with their biological sex written in birth certificates. In North Carolina’s House Bill 2, those transgenders who have gone through sex change surgeries should have their biological sex changed on their birth certificates before they can use the state-run bathrooms according to sex.

North Carolina is already gearing up for a court date with the administration. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott already said that they will fight the order. Likewise, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick condemned the order.

Even though there are no new legal requirements to the guidance, a statement from Education Secretary John King mentions that the guidance means to shape the school districts’ expectations especially those receiving money from the government while preserving the Civil Rights Act (Title IX).

There is a heated opposition coming from a number of conservative groups and organizations with the administration’s guidance going publicly. They insisted that the privacy for many people shouldn’t be at cost given the small percent of the transgender population.

The country has yet to see how the population is to react with making use of the facilities and washing hands in those Marble Basins inside these gender consistent bathrooms.