Title IX Obligations

The basic Title IX statute provides: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or

Title IX Section 1681 (a) states that no American citizen can be discriminated against based on gender when it comes to admission or inclusion in an educational institution receiving government funding. There are several “exceptions” to this. For example, if the school is traditionally an “all-boys” or “all-girls” school, then it is not required to allow the opposite gender to attend. Fraternities and sororities as well as the Boy and Girl Scouts of America are also not required to allow the opposite gender to

Also, the Department of Education sent out a letter interpreting Title IX which is separation of restrooms and locker rooms on the basis of sex, the letter stated that any school receiving federal funding has to allow transgender students to use facilities that match THEIR gender identity.

A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must not allow transgender students’ access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity. Furthermore, a school must not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities. The policy says a transgender student who expresses a need or desire for increased privacy should be provided with a reasonable alternative arrangements, such as the use of a private area, or a separate changing schedule, or use of a single-stall restroom. A school may, however, make individual-user options available to all students who voluntarily seek additional

The transgender community has been particularly outspoken about the injustices they have faced as transgender individuals as of late. Due to this, the public’s attention is drawn to what can be done to help these individuals gain the same rights that cisgender people have. A particularly potent topic is that of transgender students in high schools. On account of the attention, schools and teachers are faced with whether they will help or hinder the lives of their transgender students. Unfortunately, it has been made clear that high school teachers and high schools in general are not doing enough to accommodate their transgender students.

There are numerous theories regarding the development of one’s gender identity. Gender identity refers how one identifies as either male, female or transgender.

In recent years, our nation has seen an increased number of transgender students demanding to be included in activities and facilities they have been excluded from in the past. This has introduced a growing number of events that contradict the norms and labels our society has in place regarding gender and sex roles. The very definition of what it means to be female or male is being challenged by this small portion of the population. In their fight for gender autonomy and gender equality in the education field, they have made great strides to be acknowledged and treated as the gender they identify with; instead of the gender that our society’s norms place on them because of their birth certificate sex.

Mixed gender rights have definitely come to the forefront in recent years for institutions in higher education. Long gone are the days of our parents and grandparents where gender identity and sexual preference were hush-hush. Students have pushed the boundaries of their respective school’s policies on transgender rights and have forced these institutions to institute policies to address these issues of equality on campus. My research will highlight the myriad of ways that higher education has addressed transgender rights on their campuses.

On May 13, 2016 the United States was issued a letter from the president himself (Barack Obama at the time) declaring that “the nation’s schools must immediately begin allowing students to use the bathrooms, locker rooms and showers of the student’s choosing, or risk having Title IX linked funding withdrawn.” (Scott Pruitt) Title IX, created in 1972 is a law that banned sex discrimination in schools. Since then, it requires schools to provide separate toilets, locker rooms, and shower facilities based on sex. However, in Obama’s letter, it is stated that Title IX was rewritten and one’s sex is no longer biologically defined but reflects one’s “gender identity”. Thus anyone wanting to change their gender

Transgender students were restrained from using the bathroom of the gender in which they identified with in order to protect the public safety of the other students who might not feel comfortable in an environment where they must share a bathroom with someone

Insurance companies have made law that discriminate against Transgender changes. Health insurance does not cover gender changes due to the high risk of blood clots and death. “Medicare is now allowed to fund offset medical coast of gender transition and has warned insurers that not allowing coverage can be discriminatory” (Eliperin). This is important because it is discriminating a group of people whose rights are getting taken away. School is supposed to be one of the safest environments that you are able to be yourself. “In America, 83 percent of students in the LGBT community frequently get variable abuse because of their sexuality, almost 70 percent of students do not feel safe at school.” (Clarke) These statistics prove

The biological sex of a person is assigned to them at the time of conception. But gender identity is strictly mental. Gender identity is the gender that a person identifies themselves as. Now with Gender Dysphoria For example some person might have the anatomy of a woman, but will

A gender identity is a person self identifies with a gender as being a male or female. Children learn about the characteristics and socialized parts of gender. Children understand that males and females have different body, shapes, but share characteristics. Parents raise their son or daughter in the gender assigned. If they have a boy or girl, they will buy them boy or girl clothes and toys. Parent's choosing the clothes they wear and the toys they play with they are shaping their own gender identity. Children develop their gender identity through imitating and observing the behaviors of adults. They are rewarding for imitating the behaviors of adults of the same gender and punished for imitating the behaviors of a different gender. For example,

Gender is not based on physical attributes. Sex is the word that should be used when speaking about biological characteristics. So, based on the definition of gender by LeVay, gender identity is one’s personal attitude towards being more male or female.

Gender identity can be defined in numerous different ways, as the Human Rights Campaign states, "One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither..." though it’s not as common for people to define as neither. They had also concluded that someone's "gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth." As well as being