The U.S. Education Department said it is investigating Denver Public Schools for alleged discrimination after the district converted a girls restroom on the second floor of East High School into an all-gender restroom while leaving the other bathroom exclusively for male students.
The department's accusation that the move might violate Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, appears to be unprecedented, and it marks a sharp departure from the department's investigations under former President Joe Biden.
Biden's administration interpreted Title IX to include LGBTQ+ protections, though a federal judge overturned the policy.
"Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, (the Office for Civil Rights) will not tolerate discrimination of any kind," said Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a news release.
Denver Public Schools said in a statement that it has not received a formal notice of the investigation and will wait to provide comment.
Brett Sokolow, the president of the Association of Title IX Administrators, said such questions have yet to be tested.
"They are arguing that an all-gender restroom isn’t comparable to a single-gender restroom," Sokolow said. "You’d have to establish that somehow you have a right to a single-sex bathroom, and while the Trump administration may believe that, I don’t know if that will be upheld by the courts."
The Department of Education investigates thousands of Title IX complaints every year, mostly dealing with athletics. Nearly all cases have been resolved through voluntary resolutions with schools and colleges, though the agency has authority to terminate federal funding for institutions that violate civil rights laws.
In a 2024 case, the department’s Office of Civil Rights investigated an undisclosed school district after a transgender middle school student allegedly faced repeated harassment, including being told she was in the wrong bathroom. The district reached an agreement to end the case, adding staff training and inviting the student to join an LGBTQ outreach committee.
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