California leads opposition to proposal that would end monitoring of LGBTQ+ harassment and bullying

"The proposal by the Department of Education would halt data collection on nonbinary students, remove gender identity and sex characteristics from the Office of Civil Rights' definitions of harassment and bullying on the basis of sex and cease collection of data on harassment and bullying on the basis of gender identity. This will almost certainly result in more hostile school environments for these young people, said Shannon Minter, the legal director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights."

"Since he returned to office in January, President Donald Trump has made anti-transgender policies one of his administration's top priorities. He's signed executive orders recognizing only two sexes and prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in high school sports and has targeted California schools and leaders over policies protecting transgender students and athletes opening several investigations and threatening school funding."

"The proposed changes by the Department of Education also come as the Trump administration said it will no longer provide national suicide and crisis hotline services to LGBTQ+ youth and closed down the San Francisco regional branch of the Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for protecting California students protection."

Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading a multistate coalition with Illinois AG Kwame Raoul and attorneys general from 17 other jurisdictions, including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The Department of Education proposal would stop collecting data on nonbinary students, remove gender identity and sex characteristics from Office for Civil Rights harassment definitions, and cease collecting harassment data based on gender identity. Advocates warn that ending data collection will prevent tracking and addressing harassment, likely worsening school climates. The administration has also limited federal LGBTQ+ services and closed a regional OCR office.

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