Campus Pride calls on state legislators to increase Title IX protections for trans students

Campus Pride calls on state legislators to increase Title IX protections for trans students

On June 22, Campus Pride and 149 other human and civil rights organizations signed an open letter written by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The groups called for the full inclusion, protection and celebration of transgender and non-binary youth, including access to extracurricular activities such as athletics and to school facilities, safe and inclusive school environments, an accurate and inclusive curriculum and gender-affirming school health services. Read the full letter here. 

Windmeyer’s comments on trans inclusion in Title IX regulations

Since its founding, Campus Pride has worked to combat discriminatory Title IX religious exemptions at colleges and universities. For more on LGBTQ inclusion in Title IX regulations, read Campus Pride Founder and Executive Director Shane Windmeyer’s interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education. We call for the adoption of the Biden Administration’s proposed Title IX regulations, which would make college campuses safer for transgender students. 

In the open letter to state legislators, The Leadership Conference wrote: 

“We, the civil and human rights community, support the full inclusion and protection of transgender and non-binary youth. We are fortunate that transgender people are present in our community, and we fully embrace them as members of our community. As organizations that care deeply about ending sex-based discrimination and ensuring equal educational opportunities, we support laws and policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, including participation in sports, access to gender-affirming care, access to school facilities, and access to inclusive curriculum. We firmly believe that an attack on transgender youth is an attack on civil rights. 

A multitude of bills seeking to exclude transgender youth and youth born with intersex traits from athletics would harm both cisgender and transgender girls and women, particularly Black and Brown girls and women. These laws are likely to violate both the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, putting states’ federal educational funding in jeopardy. We reject the suggestion that girls and women who are cisgender benefit from the exclusion of girls and women who are transgender or intersex. State leaders who care about women’s and girls’ sports should reject these bills and instead focus on closing the gender and racial disparities in athletics opportunities and participation and on protecting student athletes from sexual abuse.”

Transgender youth need your support!

As a champion for LGBTQ youth rights, Campus Pride supports the full inclusion, protection and celebration of transgender youth. Transgender and non-binary youth deserve the chance to succeed and thrive like any other child. We call on state policymakers to reject attacks on transgender and non-binary youth and to commit themselves to meaningfully advancing policies that support equal opportunity. 

For more resources on trans-inclusive college and university policies, go to Campus Pride’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse.

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ABOUT CAMPUS PRIDE

Celebrating its 20th anniversary year in 2021, Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to building future leaders and creating safer, more inclusive communities for LGBTQ people and allies at colleges and universities. Founded in 2001 by nationally-recognized LGBTQ civil rights leader and campus pioneer Shane L. Windmeyer, Campus Pride offers a wide variety of programs and resources for students and prospective students, including the Campus Pride Index, HBCU Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Lambda 10, Stop the Hate and Safe Space trainings, and the annual Camp Pride leadership camp. www.campuspride.org.