The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the Decatur, Georgia City School District’s policy allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice contributed to the sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl in the girl’s bathroom by a boy who identified as “gender fluid.”
Politico reports: ‘The investigation in Decatur, Ga., which opened last month, signals a major development in Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ controversial policies on transgender bathroom access in schools and her handling of civil rights enforcement for transgender students….The complaint was filed in May with help from the Alliance Defending Freedom (designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the SPLC), a conservative Christian group that has filed many lawsuits challenging school district transgender bathroom policies nationwide. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights said in a Sept. 14 letter that it would investigate the complaint, which means it will consider whether a student was assaulted because Decatur City School District allows transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice.’
In February, the U.S. Department of Education said it would reject civil rights complaints from transgender students, putting an official end to a period of considering how it would choose to interpret Title IX, even though two federal appeals courts have ruled that the law protects transgender students.
