In a 5-page letter sent to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday, several Democratic members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee painted the administration’s decision a

On Monday Judge Mark R Hornak of the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that three transgender students had a "reasonable likelihood" of success in their argument that the Pine-Richland School District's decision last fall to require them to use bathrooms consistence with the sex on their birth certificates was unconstitutional, and hence granted them a preliminary injunction against that policy.

The US DoE's Office of Civil Rights yesterday announced that Dorchester County School District Two in South Carolina has entered into a voluntary agreement to stop discriminating against a transgender elementary school student. THE OCR had found that the district was in violation of Title IX's prohibition on sex-based discrimination.

I commend Dorchester County School District Two for committing to protect the civil rights of all students and ensuring that all students have equal access to education programs and activities.

--Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights

librarising posted this morning concerning the Fourth circuit ruling that transgender students are indeed covered by Title IX in the Virginia case of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board.

Today’s fourth circuit decision is a vindication for Gavin and a reinforcement of the Department of Education’s policy. With this decision, we hope that schools and legislators will finally get the message that excluding transgender kids from the restrooms is unlawful sex discrimination.

--Joshua Block, ACLU

The uncontroverted facts before the district court demonstrate that as a result of the Board’s restroom policy, [Grimm] experiences daily psychological harm that puts him at risk for long-term psychological harm.

--Judge Andre Davis

You've no doubt never heard of Multnomah University. It's in Northeast Portland, on Glisan between 82nd and the 205.

Heck, I grew up in a suburb of Portland and I'd never heard of it until now.

Multnomah University is a non-denominational Christian university in Portland, Oregon. Multnomah consists of a college, graduate school, seminary and Degree Completion Program, and the university offers bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees.

MU's President G. Craig Williford wrote a letter to the US Department of Education in February saying that MU "affirms the dignity of all human beings."

Then he basically asked the Department of Ed to agree with him that transgender people deserve no compassion, because evidently they are not human.

The tiny, 79-year-old nondenominational university is one of a growing number of religious schools around the country asking the federal government for an exemption from anti-discrimination laws where gender identity is concerned.

Basically, the school's arguing its religious beliefs don't allow it to accept or employ transgender people, but that should have no bearing on the federal funding it happily accepts each year.

Yesterday federal education authorities found that Township High School District in Palatine, IL violated anti-discrimination laws when it denied a transgender girl who participates on a girl's sports team free access to change and shower in the girl's locker room.