Education | National

Bureau of Indian Education subject to transgender student guidance

Friday, May 13, 2016

The Shonto Preparatory School is a Bureau of Indian Education institution on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation. Photo from Facebook

Bureau of Indian Education institutions are among the schools nationwide that are covered by a new Obama administration directive aimed at accommodating transgender students.

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice issued joint guidance on Friday that requires public schools and those that receive federal funds to ensure that all students can learn in a discrimination-free environment. The directive does not specifically mention the BIE but a spokesperson said it applies to the 183 Indian schools under the agency's purview.

"This guidance, as does all of our guidance, applies to all schools and colleges that receive federal funds," said Dorie Turner Nolt, the press secretary at the Department of Education.

The document explains how schools can accommodate transgender students. Typically that involves ensuring equal access to facilities -- such as bathrooms and locker rooms -- and athletic activities.

"No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus," Secretary John King, Jr., said in a press release.

"There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex," added Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Also Today:
Catherine E. Lhamon and Vanita Gupta: Helping Schools Ensure the Civil Rights of Transgender Students (Department of Education Blog 5/13)