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The Trump administration has reversed federal guidance that directed public schools to allow students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their gender identities. Sara D. Davis/Getty Images hide caption

The Trump administration has reversed federal guidance that directed public schools to allow students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their gender identities.

The Trump administration is rescinding protections for transgender students in public schools.

The move by the Justice and Education departments reverses guidance the Obama administration publicized in May 2016, which said a federal law known as Title IX protects the right of transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities.

But on Wednesday, the two federal departments said the Obama documents do not "contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX, nor did they undergo any formal public process. This interpretation has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms."

A letter issued by the departments also says there "must be due regard for the primary role of states and local school districts in establishing educational policy."

"The president has made it clear throughout the campaign that he's a firm believer in states' rights and that certain issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

About 150,000 young people ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Civil rights groups say they worry that the reversal could lead to bullying and violence against vulnerable transgender kids. Some protested outside the White House on Wednesday evening.

When then-President Barack Obama issued the guidelines last year, the White House directed schools to allow students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities, citing a federal law that protects students from gender discrimination.

As NPR's Scott Horsley reported, the Obama administration "warned that schools that defied the recommendation could be at risk of losing federal funds. Thirteen states challenged the Obama guidelines, and a Texas judge put them on hold."

That administration said the directive was meant to help school districts avoid running afoul of civil rights laws, as we reported.

Under Obama, the Department of Justice sued the state of North Carolina over its so-called bathroom law, which prohibits municipal governments in the state from passing laws protecting the rights of transgender people. It also requires trans people in government facilities to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.

North Carolina has lost business over the law, including NCAA championship events that were scheduled to be held in the state.

State legislatures in New Hampshire, Colorado and Texas, among other states, have also considered bills that would restrict access to restrooms for transgender people.

On March 28, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by a high school student in Virginia. As NPR's Nina Totenberg has reported:

"Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old senior in Gloucester County, [Va.] ... came out as transgender when he was a freshman in high school. The school principal allowed him to use the boys' bathroom, until some parents complained, and the school board adopted a policy that required students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex, or a separate single-stall restroom office."

Grimm sued the school board. His lawsuit argues the bathroom policy is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment and violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination by schools.

In April, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the case to proceed. In August, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the school board did not have to allow Grimm to use the restroom of his choice in the interim.

Justice Stephen Breyer said he voted to stay the lower court order as a "courtesy" to maintain the status quo while the court considered whether to hear the lawsuit, as The Two-Way reported.

Wednesday's documents say the Trump administration will "more completely consider the legal issues involved" in the Obama rules and in litigation "will not rely on the views expressed within them."

The American Civil Liberties Union's James Esseks says in a statement:

"While it's disappointing to see the Trump administration revoke the guidance, the administration cannot change what Title IX means. When it decided to hear Gavin Grimm's case, the Supreme Court said it would decide which interpretation of Title IX is correct, without taking any administration's guidance into consideration. We're confident that that the law is on Gavin's side and he will prevail just as he did in the Fourth Circuit."

The rest is here:
Trump Administration Rescinds Obama Rule On Transgender Students' Bathroom Use - NPR

A group of voters in France is urging former President Obama to run in the French presidential election this spring.

At a time when France is about to vote massively for the extreme right, we can still give a lesson of democracy to the planet by electing a French President, a foreigner, the French website for OBAMA17 reads, ABC Newsfirst reported on Thursday.

"[Its] because he has the best resume in the world, the site, which is not connected with Obama, continues.

The group is jockeying for 1 million signatures, even though Obama is not French and France requires its presidential candidates to be natives.

We started dreaming about this idea two months before the end of Obamas presidency, an OBAMA17 spokesman told ABC. "We dreamed about this possibility to vote for someone we really admire, someone who could lead us to project ourselves in a bright future."

Then, we thought, whether its possible or not, whether or not he is French, we have to do this for real, to give French people hope Vive la Republique, Vive Obama, Vive la France and the U.S.A.

See original here:
French fans to Obama: Run for president here - The Hill

We like the sound of an Obama Day.

Democratic lawmakers in Illinois hope to honorformer President Barack Obama by making his birthday, Aug 4,a state holiday.

Illinois, which was the first state in the country to adopt Martin Luther King Jr. Day in1973, could once again spark a nationwide trend.If passed, the bill would create the states first new holiday in nearly 40 years.

According to ABC7Chicago,three bills have been introduced including two bills in the House proposed by Democratic Reps. Andre Thapedi and Sonya Harper. Both of their bills would make his date of birth a legal holiday, which would shut down state government office while schools and businesses would have the option to close.

Although two of the bills are identical, Harper said that they should be combined in the committee review process or else just one will move forward.

Democratic Senator Jacqueline Collins, whose interest is to make the holiday commemorative, introduced the third bill. Essentially, this means that the government, schools and businesses would not be closed and would simply serve as an honorable recognition of the nations 44th President.

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Now that Obama is out of the Oval Office, which he departed with one of thehighest approval ratings of any U.S.President with 60 percent, Thapedi says the bill has a better chance at moving forward.

This bill is even stronger this year now that Obama is no longer in the White House, Thapedi said.

Last year, there were some concerns, honoring a sitting president. Now that hes no longer a sitting President, its even more appropriate, he continued.

Those against the legislation, which has included Republican Governor Bruce Raumer, argue that the holiday would cost the state $3.2 million in salary for workers to enjoy a paid day off.

He also added that there was a concern for loss of productivity for the state and that theres potential to "lose $16 million from state workers having a paid, non-working holiday."

As Republicans continue to pushback many policies from the former administration, Thapedi is hopeful that we dont descend to what we see at the federal level.

As a Democrat, I have no problem honoring President Lincoln. There should be reciprocity between parties, Obama belongs to Illinois, and Illinois belongs to all people, Republicans and Democrats, he said.

Read the original:
Illinois Lawmakers Consider Making Obama's Birthday A Holiday - Essence.com

Michelle Obama signed an autograph after giving a campaign speech for Barack Obama in Milwaukee on Feb. 18, 2008, before her husband was elected president. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., a big enough supporter of President Donald Trump that he has been mentioned for a role in the administration, has been a frequent basher of former President Barack Obama.

On Feb. 17, 2017, he turned to attacking the former first lady.

"Michelle Obama said she was never proud of her country til they elected her husband POTUS," Clarke charged on Twitter: "I've never been prouder since we got rid of him."

With the tweet was a photo of Clarke, who is being encouraged by some to run against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in 2018. Flexing his biceps, Clarke is shown wearing a T-shirt with an image of Trump standing on a tank and holding a rifle.

During Obamas first presidential campaign, Obama did take some flack for remarks she made in Wisconsin about being proud of her country.

Lets see whether Clarke is accurately describing what she said.

Two Wisconsin speeches

Obama campaigned for her husband in Milwaukee and Madison on Feb. 18, 2008, the day before Wisconsins primary. He had won eight consecutive Democratic primaries and caucuses over Hillary Clinton.

In Milwaukee, Michelle Obama said:

People in this country are ready for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.

But remarks she made later in Madison were the ones that gained widespread media attention. Several minutes into her speech, Obama noted her husbands primary victory in South Carolina and continued by saying:

And then he went on to win throughout the country. And whens the last time weve seen a candidate -- male, female, whatever party -- who has been able to pull together victories that included Utah and Idaho and Louisiana and Maine and Washington and Illinois. I dont think weve seen that. But what weve learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and let me tell you something: For the first time in my adult lifetime, Im really proud of my country and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. Ive seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues and its made me proud.

So, Obamas remark was made before her husband had won the Democratic nomination and nine months before was elected president.

And Obama said she was proud because Americans were hungry for change, not just because her husband was winning.

But her statement was controversial.

Asked the day after the Wisconsin primary, which her husband won, if she wanted to clarify her remarks, Obama said:

What I was clearly talking about was that I'm proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process. For the first time in my lifetime, I'm seeing people rolling up their sleeves in a way that I haven't seen and really trying to figure this out -- and that's the source of pride that I was talking about.

Bill Kristol, editor-at-large of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, said at the time that Obamas original comment "was sort of revealing," adding:

She was an adult when we won the Cold War without firing a shot. She was an adult for the last 25 years of economic progress, social progress .I dont think the American people think on the whole that the last 25 years of American history is a narrative of despair and nothing to be proud of.

CNN included the key part of Obamas remark -- "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change" -- in a documentary on her that aired in January 2017. That clip was followed by David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama, saying:

Those kinds of moments gave you a heartburn. By the same token, it became clear to me very quickly that we had failed her, because we threw her out there without adequate staffing, without adequate preparation.

For his part, Clarke didnt provide us any information to back his claim. The sheriffs office spokeswoman told us the sheriff said: "Go suck an egg" and that when he does provide us evidence of his claims, PolitiFact Wisconsin "still finds a way to contort a way to say false."

Our rating

Clarke says Obama "said she was never proud of her country til they elected her husband POTUS."

He provided us and we could find no evidence of such a statement.

What Obamasaid -- nine months before her husband was elected president -- was that for the first time in her adult life, she was proud of her country not just because Barack Obama had done well in pursuing the presidential nomination, but also "because I think people are hungry for change."

We rate Clarkes statement False.

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Says Michelle Obama "said she was never proud of her country til they elected her husband POTUS."

David Clarke

Milwaukee County sheriff, Democrat

In a tweet

Friday, February 17, 2017

02/17/2017

Read the original:
David Clarke says Michelle Obama said she was proud of US only after Barack Obama became president - PolitiFact

The Trump administration has issued new guidance outlining which restrooms transgender students can use, effectively lifting previous guidelines put in place by the Obama administration. USA TODAY NETWORK

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on Feb. 23, 2017, in National Harbor, Md.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Thursday called the transgender bathroom guidelines from the Obama administration "an overreach," a day after the Trump administration rescinded thoserules.

"This issue was a very huge example of the Obama administration's overreach, a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach," DeVos said at the Conservative Political Action Conference. These matters should be handled at a "personal and local level."

DeVos'words came less than a day after the Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued a joint statement aboutthe decision "to withdraw and rescind" guidelines issued last year by the Obama administration requiring that schools allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their chosen gender rather than their birth gender.

The announcement has drawn anger from LGBTQ rights groups. It also comes before the Supreme Court hears the case of Gavin Grimm, a Virginia high school student seeking a nationwide bathroom standard for transgender students. The court will likely hear Grimm's case next month.

On Thursday at CPAC, DeVos kept her comments limited to the overreach statement, pointing to a statement she released on Wednesday night.

"We have a responsibility to protect every student in America and ensure that they have the freedom to learn and thrive in a safe and trusted environment," she said in the statement. "This is not a federal mandate, but a moral obligation no individual, school, district or state can abdicate."

According to TheNew York Times, DeVos had at first resisted rescinding the rules because of the potential harm such actions would cause for transgender students. This put her at odds with Attorney General Jeff Session, the Timesreported, and President Trump told DeVos to end her opposition earlier this week.

More USA TODAY coverage of CPAC:

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Betsy DeVos calls Obama's transgender bathroom rules an 'overreach' - USA TODAY