Understanding the problem

Transgender students often face significant challenges in the school environment, including bullying, discrimination, and lack of access to appropriate facilities. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, nearly 75% of transgender youth feel unsafe at school. This pervasive lack of safety can lead to severe consequences, including higher rates of absenteeism, lower academic performance, and mental health issues.

The 2024 Title IX regulations specifically mandate that schools address harassment based on gender identity, making it more crucial than ever to take proactive steps.

But several states have declared their intention not to comply with the new Title IX regulations related to gender identity discrimination, including Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. These states argue that the new Title IX regulations conflict with state law and contradict the original purpose of Title IX. If you live in such a state, consult your general counsel on your legal obligations.

Practical solutions

1. Policy review: Start by reviewing your district’s current policies to ensure they are inclusive of transgender students and compliant with the new Title IX regulations. This includes anti-bullying policies and Title IX harassment procedures, as well as dress code and facility access policies.

2. Training and education: Provide regular training for staff on issues related to transgender inclusion. This training should cover the basics of gender identity, the specific challenges faced by transgender students and strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment.

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The 2024 Title IX regulations also require all employees be trained on conduct that constitutes gender identity-based harassment. Consider bringing in experts from local LGBTQ+ organizations or hiring an attorney with knowledge of these issues.

3. Support systems: Establish support systems for transgender students. This could include access to on-site counseling, peer support groups, peer mentors and designated safe spaces where students can feel secure and supported.

4. Accessible facilities: Ensure all students have access to facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, that correspond to their gender identity. This is required in some states, such as those in the Fourth Circuit, as a result of recent litigation.

Also have gender-neutral, single-stall facilities for students who do not feel comfortable in a multi-stall facility for whatever reason, whether that is due to their gender identity or their religious convictions.

5. Inclusive curriculum: Where not prohibited, incorporate LGBTQ+ topics into curriculum to promote understanding and acceptance among all students. This can be integrated into subjects such as social studies, the sciences, English and health education.

LGBTQ+ history and innovations by LGBTQ+ individuals can be incorporated into curriculum instead of having a separate lesson that may make transgender students feel alienated.

6. Inclusive language: Use inclusive language and examples that reflect LGBTQ+ identities in classroom materials and discussions. Calling students “friends” instead of “boys and girls” and asking students what name and pronouns they use at the start of the year can go a long way in helping transgender students feel like they belong.

7. Engage with the community: Host informational sessions and create resources to educate the community about gender identity and the importance of inclusivity. Partner with local LGBTQ+ organizations to provide additional resources and support for students and staff, such as outside support groups and alternative proms.

8. Legal compliance: Regularly consult with legal counsel to ensure your school district’s policies and practices comply with the law. This is a rapidly changing landscape and vigilance is required.

Moving forward

Creating a supportive environment for transgender students is a continuous process that requires commitment and proactive effort. By taking these initial steps, you can ensure that your school district complies with legal requirements and fosters a culture of inclusivity and respect for all students.

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Nearly four in 10 LGBTQ+ teens and young adults reported that they or their families have considered moving to another state because of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and laws, such as those that restrict teaching about gender identity. The percentage is even higher among transgender and non-binary young people.

Almost all respondents (90%) said these laws and policies harmed their well-being somewhat or “a lot.” But those are just a few findings among a larger set of troubling conclusions reached by the 2024 edition of Trevor Project’s annual U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.

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“There is no doubt that this has been a challenging year for LGBTQ+ young people,” says the survey of 18,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community ages 13 to 24 across the U.S. “Yet despite these challenges, including the historic wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that has targeted them, these young people remain powerful, optimistic and resilient.”

Similar to past surveys, the 2024 poll found that LGBTQ+ young people continue to experience disproportionate rates of depression, anxiety, risk of suicide and bullying. Just about one-third of high school and college students reported being verbally harassed due to perceptions about their gender identity or sexual orientation. Nearly 50% of the high schoolers said they had been bullied in the past year.

Similar to 2023, about 40% of LGBTQ+ young people reported “seriously considering” suicide in the past year and about half who sought mental health care could not find it.

How to help LGBTQ+ students

The report also offers guidance on how schools, campuses and communities can better support LGBTQ+ young people. Around half of the respondents said their school was gender-affirming and the poll found lower rates of suicide attempts among this group.

School leaders can provide LGBTQ+-affirming spaces, such as gender-neutral bathrooms, and allow young people to use preferred names and pronouns. A large majority of LGBTQ+ students said they have at least one adult at school who supports their LGBTQ+ identity.

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Starting on Aug. 1, LGBTQ+ students will be legally protected from harassment based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. The updated Title IX regulations released by the Department of Education last week offered no guidance about transgender and nonbinary students joining sports teams that align with their gender.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter directly to Biden claiming the updates are “illegal” and that he has ordered the Texas Education Agency to ignore the new rules. Title IX, Abbott wrote, recognizes only two genders and its purpose is to support the advancement of women academically and athletically.

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“You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity,” Abbott argued. “This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as president.”

Lousiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley told district leaders and school boards not to alter any of their policies despite the Biden Administration’s ruling. The new rule “alters the long-standing definition that has created fairness and equal access to opportunity for women and men,” Brumley wrote in a letter to Louisiana school system leaders. “The Title IX rule changes recklessly endanger students and seek to dismantle equal opportunities for females.”

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis posted a video to X saying, “We will not comply.”

Lousiana has joined with Texas and several other states in a lawsuit against the Title IX updates. State superintendents in Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina also told districts not to comply or make any new policies to protect their LGBTQ communities.

South Carolina’s ACLU chapter blasted state Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s rejection of the Title IX update, calling it the latest move in state leaders’ “cruel” efforts to marginalize LGBTQ students and communities.

“In addition to encouraging districts to ignore federal regulations—and putting our underfunded schools at risk of losing critically needed dollars—her letter suggests transgender kids don’t exist and shouldn’t be protected from discrimination,” South Carolina ACLU Executive Director Jace Woodrum said in a statement.

“The rights of transgender and cisgender people are not a zero-sum game,” the organization added. “Trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people belong in South Carolina, and they deserve to be protected from discrimination, not vilified by politicians.”

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For more than 50 years, Title IX has played a pivotal role in America’s schools as a promise to students of equitable education opportunities free from sex-based discrimination. That includes the protection of LGBTQ+ as well as parenting and pregnant students, according to the new rules.

What’s changed?

Effective Aug. 1, Biden’s Title IX overhaul expands upon the meaning of sexual assault and harassment, and this change may increase the number of cases filed. As for K12 schools, LGBTQ+ students are now guaranteed protection by law if they experience harassment based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.

The old regulations also required schools to investigate claims of sexual assault only if they met a particular standard or threshold of sex-based discrimination, which had to be done through a formal reporting process. They also didn’t allow for the investigation of cases that took place off college campuses.

As for pregnant and parenting students, those who receive unwelcomed sexual attention or punishment at schools are given additional protections to avoid sex discrimination on campus and during admissions.

However, the updated ruling does not specify whether transgender and nonbinary students can partake in sports that align with their gender, despite the administration’s proposed Title IX changes in April 2023 that argued schools couldn’t ban such students from participating on their preferred sports teams.

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Elizabeth Troutman, an education attorney with the Brooks Pierce law firm in Greensboro, North Carolina, says schools will have to navigate the new rules per their state-specific laws and the language outlined in the new regulations, which require students to be given equal opportunities at school.

“Gender identity and sexual orientation are protected characteristics and that’s made explicit in these regulations,” she says.

It’s not much different than how the law has been interpreted up until this point, she adds. However, it will be increasingly important for school leaders to focus on ensuring equitable access to opportunities at school.

Preparing for Aug. 1

Schools have less than four months until they have to adhere to these new standards, which may require some administrators to develop new policies and protections for students ahead of the upcoming school year.

Troutman says the Biden administration’s updates have increased the number and type of issues that have to be addressed through the Title IX coordinator.

“That’s going to be a really big shift to say, ‘Look, you need to report to the Title IX coordinator for the school system for a lot more issues than you are currently reporting if you’re a principal,'” she says.

“On the flip side,” she adds, “they have added a lot of flexibility into how the issues get addressed, at least for K12 schools. In that way, it’s helpful to be able to look at a situation and consider the age and maturity of the students involved and the context in which the harassment occurred.”

Could election season reverse these changes?

Election season is well underway and recent polls suggest an extremely tight race between the two leading candidates, incumbent Joe Biden and former president Trump. However, school leaders shouldn’t waste their time speculating whether the Title IX updates will last.

“They’ve gone through notice and comment rule-making, which is a significant process,” she explains. “That’s what the Trump administration had to go through in order to adopt the regulations in 2020. That took them four years.”

Similarly, Biden promised during his campaign in 2020 to roll back the regulations implemented under former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and we’re just now seeing his pledge come to fruition.

“It’s almost four years to the day since the Trump administration ruled out the 2020 regulations,” says Troutman. “I think what we learned from that experience is we’re just going to follow the law. Trying to predict what an administration is going to do and in what time frame is sort of a waste of time.”

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Those numbers mean book bans, which are taking place in both red and blue districts, are “soaring to a record level,” PEN America says in its latest report, “Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis.”

“Book bans are targeting narratives about race and sexual identities and sexual content writ large, and they show no sign of stopping,” said Sabrina Baêta, Freedom to Read program manager at PEN America and a lead author of the report.

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“The bans we’re seeing are broad, harsh and pernicious–and they’re undermining the education of millions of students across the country.”

The latest report focuses on books about women, sexual violence and rape that are being challenged based on obscenity. It also found that titles on race and racism, LGBTQ+ and transgender identities remain frequent targets of censors.

PEN America has tracked over 10,000 removals between July 2021 to December 2023, with Florida tallying the most bans at 3,135 across 11 school districts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill this week that limits residents without children in a particular school system to one book challenge per month. Parents can still contest as many books as they want at their children’s schools.

Meanwhile, according to PEN America’s research, censorship activity is accelerating in other states:

• Wisconsin: 481 bans across three school districts, including 444 books challenged by just one parent
• Iowa: 142 bans in three school districts
• Texas: 141 bans at four school districts
• Kentucky: One district, Boyle County Schools, removed 106 books
• Virginia: Three school districts banned 100 titles.

Pushback on book bans

The good news, the report asserts, is that students are taking action. Students are protesting, forming after-school banned book clubs and “working with teachers to distribute books under the radar,” the report points out.

“Students are at the epicenter of the book-banning movement, and they’re fearlessly spearheading the fight against this insidious encroachment into what they can read and learn across the country,” said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at PEN America. “By suppressing these stories, censors seek to delegitimize experiences that resonate deeply with young people.”

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In the latest nationwide numbers on staff shortages, for example, districts reported that 9% of their teachers retired or resigned during the 2022–2023 school year, the RAND Corporation’s latest American School District Panel found. That turnover rate was similar to the previous school year but still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Districts continue to struggle the hardest to hire substitutes and special education teachers, the survey noted. Nearly eight in 10 districts reported considerable shortages of substitutes in fall 2021 compared to just more than half that cited the same difficulty in fall 2023. When it comes to math shortages of math teachers during that same period, the number of district leaders reporting hiring challenges dropped from 32% to 20%.

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The survey also tracked a decline in the pandemic-era spike in principal resignations. A whopping 16% of principals left their jobs in 2021-22 compared to 9% the following year. Before the COVID outbreak, that number hovered around 3%.

The nonprofit research organization also surveyed educators on five other components of school climate, including politicization, curriculum restrictions and funding.

Political polarization intrudes

Four in 10 districts reported that politicization had interfered with teachers’ ability to cover race and LGBTQ issues effectively:

This polarization is more pronounced in suburban and rural districts, where leaders were twice as likely to report political challenges.

Navigating sensitive discussions

Since the 2020-21 school year, some 5% of districts have disciplined educators for violating policies restricting classroom discussions about race, gender or sexuality. More than half of leaders, meanwhile, say their school boards and states have enacted curriculum restrictions on race, gender, sexuality and other topics.

“Unsurprisingly, districts located in conservative areas were almost twice as likely as their counterparts in liberal areas to indicate that their educators were subject to such a state or district policy,” the report notes.

Budgetary concerns loom

Despite the looming ESSER “fiscal cliff,” only about one-quarter of districts expect revenues to drop by at least 5% in the 2024–2025 school year. About half of the leaders said they anticipated 2023-34 funding to remain about the same in 2024-25 while, perhaps surprisingly, 15% expect revenues to increase. However, high-poverty districts and those serving mostly students of color were more likely to expect funding to drop.

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That’s according to a new analysis of FBI data from The Washington Post suggesting that the number of hate crimes on K12 campuses has more than quadrupled nationwide between 2015-19 and 2021-22 since divisive concepts first entered the forefront of education policy-making.

“LGBTQ+ students have long dealt with bullying and harassment at school, but some students are feeling particularly vulnerable due to the wave of legislation,” The Washington Post writes.

For example, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022 signed into law a measure that requires school districts to notify parents whenever materials used for classroom instruction contain explicit content. Parents can then request alternative, non-explicit resources instead.

“For the last year, I have advocated to give parents a voice and a say in whether their children can receive alternative reading materials because parents matter,” Youngkin said in a statement after the law was enacted. “Notifying parents is common sense.”

Virginia is one of the 28 states the analysis labeled for having restrictive laws, in addition to New Hampshire, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Alaska.

About the data

According to The Post‘s report, there were 251 school hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2022, 215 in 2021 and 76 in 2020 when many schools were closed due to COVID-19.

Across the board, there were an average of 108 hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ students on both college and K12 grounds from 2015-19. Between 2021 and 2022, however, that average more than doubled to 232.

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These figures rise even further when taking into consideration states that have implemented laws restricting students’ education or rights at school, averaging about 90 hate crimes per year between 2021 and 2022. States without restrictive policies, too, have seen an uptick from nearly 79 reports to 140 hate crimes per year.

“Policy sets the tone for real-world experience [and] discriminatory policy just creates a hostile environment,” Amy McGehee, a doctoral student at Oklahoma State University who researches LGBTQ+ health and well-being, told The Post. 

These crimes most commonly include assault, intimidation and vandalism, the report declares.

Here’s a closer look at the data:

Hate crimes on K12 grounds, yearly average

States without laws:

• 2015-19: 42
• 2021-22: 86
• % increase: 104.5%

States with restrictive laws (sports, curriculum or facilities):

• 2015-19: 13
• 2021-22: 61
• % increase: 351.5%

All states:

• 2015-19: 55
• 2021-22: 147
• % increase: 166.4%

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Over the last two years, some 18 states have passed at least one law barring educators from teaching about or even discussing race, sexual orientation, gender identity and other topics. “Students do not feel comfortable asking honest questions and teachers do not feel comfortable about giving honest answers,” one teacher said in the survey conducted by the RAND Corporation, a think tank that is closely tracking the impact of curriculum restrictions.

About a quarter of the teachers participating in the nationwide survey said that race or gender restrictions are influencing their instruction. The rates were higher in conservative-leaning counties even in states without laws that narrowed curriculum.

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Overall, nearly 30% of teachers reported that restrictions had negative impacts. They said the new regulations diminish students’ sense of belonging and “could lead to long-term consequences for the future of the education system, country, and democracy,” the survey noted. Black teachers and Eng,ish language arts and secondary teachers were the most likely to see limitations as harmful for student learning.

Teachers who favored the limitations contended that race and gender are better discussed at home because the topics are inappropriate for younger kids and divide and distract students.

Here is a sampling of what teachers told the researchers about curriculum laws:

• “It unnecessarily makes the learning environment more difficult and hostile to an open exchange of ideas.”
• “If I followed the state law to the letter of the law, I couldn’t teach basic history or connect student learning to current topics and modern books.”
• “I teach in a setting that is predominantly students of color. . . . To suppress the availability of materials that reflect their lived experiences will only harm them, both socially and academically.”
• “It makes it difficult to form relationships with students that are potentially struggling with their identity. When students identify as a different name/gender and if I can’t refer to them as their preferred name it doesn’t let that student know they are valued in my classroom. When they don’t feel like a valuable classroom community member, why would they want to learn and be involved in it?”
• “I’m very grateful that my state has placed limitations on discussions of gender expression because social media does a good enough job confusing and perverting the minds of our youth [on] their own, without help from the schools.”
• “Each human being has the right to believe whatever they choose, but I will not influence nor go against what their families teach them in the home in my classroom.”

Un-limited curriculums

Some states have done the opposite of limiting curriculum and have passed laws or offered guidance to help teachers include diverse identities in instruction.

New York has provided guidance to teachers around creating a “safe, supportive, and affirming school environment for transgender and gender expansive students.” Its Board of Regents has also developed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Framework to encourage schools to adopt culturally responsive instruction.

California has funded professional development in creating a positive school climate around diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds while Washington requires educators to undergo PD in “cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion,” RAND noted.

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Opponents of the Parental Rights in Education Act signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 greeted the outcome as a victory for LGTBQ students and the wider community.

“Florida has already endured nearly two years of book banning, educators leaving the profession, and safe space stickers being ripped off of classroom windows in the wake of this law cynically targeting the LGBTQ+ community,” Nadine Smith, director of Equality Florida, said in a statement. “This settlement is a giant step toward repairing the immense damage these laws and the dangerous political rhetoric has inflicted on our families, our schools, and our state.”

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Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office also called the settlement “a major win” in an aggressively worded statement that accused the plaintiffs and the media of lying about the intent of the law. Instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity remains banned in K–3 classrooms, the state noted.

“We fought hard to ensure this law couldn’t be maligned in court, as it was in the public arena by the media and large corporate actors,” Flordia’s General Counsel Ryan Newman said in a statement. “We are victorious, and Florida’s classrooms will remain a safe place under the Parental Rights in Education Act.”

So where do LGBTQ issues stand in Florida classrooms?

The settlement clarifies that the law doe not prohibit “references to LGBTQ+ persons, couples, families, or issues, including: in literature, in classroom discussion (such as student-to-student speech or teachers responding to students’ questions), in students’ academic work product or teachers’ review of the same,” according to Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, the legal team for advocates who sued the state.

Teachers can also identify as same-sex and mention transgender spouses or partners.

According to the attorneys, the agreement also specifies that the “Don’t Say Gay” law:

• Requires neutrality and prohibits “classroom instruction” on the subjects of sexual orientation or gender identity, whether the subject addresses heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, cisgender identities, transgender identities, or otherwise. “It would violate the law, then, to instruct that heterosexuality is superior to other sexualities, or that cisgender identities are superior to transgender identities,” the legal team said.
• Does not ban instruction or intervention against bullying on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
• Does not prohibit safe space stickers or safe space areas for the benefit of LGBTQ+ persons.
• Does not bar Gay-Straight Alliances or book fairs that include LGBTQ+-focused books, musicals or plays with LGBTQ+ references or characters.
• Does not apply to library books, so long as those books are not being used in the classroom to instruct on the subjects of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“This decision blocks prejudice from reaching schools and allows LGBTQ+ students, families, and teachers to bring their whole selves to class each day,” said Jaymes Black, president and CEO of Family Equality, another plaintiff. “For students to reach their potential, schools must be places where a child’s life is welcome in discussions and is fully seen. Allowing students to talk about their families and themselves is critical.”

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White authors and characters remain far more present in K12 curriculum than authors and characters of any other race or ethnicity, according to the “The Search for More Complex Racial and Ethnic Representation” study by The Education Trust, the nonprofit that advocates for equity in K12 instruction.

The authors acknowledge the hard work districts and educators have done in recent years to diversify curriculum. But in a review of 300 English language arts texts, for example, the organization’s researchers found plenty of stereotypes and that “people of color centered in these books were one-dimensional, portrayed negatively, or did not have agency.”

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And many historical events and social topics were sanitized and not put into context for students to find meaning in the texts. “Despite an extremely narrow representation of people of color, the nation is witnessing a well-funded political strategy to erase the very few books schools have to prepare students to compete in a global economy by learning about people of different races and ethnicities,” Tanji Reed Marshall, a co-author of the report, warns.

“While fighting to stop book bans, advocates must also push for including books with characters of color who are fully realized and positively represented,” adds Marshall, Ed Trust’s director of P-12 practice.

How to have more comprehensive classroom discussions

Ed Trust offers six recommendations to create more representational curricula:

• Challenge dominant norms and singular perspectives
• Expand publisher and educator definitions of cultural relevance
• Ask a new set of questions about representation
• Consider how texts sit in conversation with one another
• Expand educator choice in curated materials
• Provide professional learning to all curriculum decision-makers, including authors and developers

“We are witnessing a literacy crisis and historic drops in student achievement, and better representation in our classroom books will help all students achieve,” says William Rodick, Ph.D., one of the study’s authors and a P12 Practice Lead at Ed Trust. “The fact is that students of color learn and perform better when they see themselves and their experiences authentically and non-stereotypically reflected in their school curricula.

“Seeing a diverse set of people in books also helps White students develop a deeper understanding of their racial and ethnic identity and the world around them, which is filled with people of varying ethnicities and cultures,” Rodick concludes.

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