Giving Compass' Take:

• Naaz Modan explains that while the Department of Education isn't enforcing transgender students' rights, they can win in the courts. 

• Suing can be a difficult and lengthy process, how can funders support transgender students and ensure their rights are respected? 

• Learn about an organization providing funding for trans communities. 

Transgender students are 'winning in the courts,' require accommodation
While several lawsuits are pending, an "overwhelming" consensus among the lower courts thus far suggests schools must accommodate transgender and nonbinary students.

As the case of Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board heads for another round of oral arguments in the coming months, schools are tasked with the decision to either allow or bar transgender students from accessing bathrooms and facilities aligning with their gender identities.

While many schools have chosen to move forward with crafting policies for the former, some have opted to either wait for more guidance from the courts or lean toward barring transgender students from accessing facilities based on their gender-alignment altogether.

But the latter two options might not be in schools’ or students’ best interest.

While the U.S. Department of Education currently “isn’t enforcing” transgender students' rights under Title IX, “trans folks can still sue, and can still win in court," according to Mara Keisling, founder and executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality​.

​And though the Trump administration reversed Obama-era guidance protecting transgender students’ rights to access bathrooms and facilities of their choosing, an overwhelming number of lower courts have actually decided in favor of transgender and nonbinary students.

“Right now, we can’t look for help from the federal government,” Keisling said. “But we’re winning in the courts.”

Attorneys agree.

Read the full article about transgender students winning in the courts by Naaz Modan at Education Dive.