Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will not lift a finger to help transgender kids

Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has taken a resolute stance against transgender children.

DeVos has rolled back Obama-era protections for transgender children, and earlier this year directed the Department of Education to stop investigating allegations of discrimination against transgender kids who have been banned from restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender.

The Trump cabinet member was challenged over her policy during a House Appropriations subcommittee this week, where she was challenged by Rep. Mark Pocan.

In her response, DeVos confirmed that the department will limit any action against discrimination to a literal reading of discrimination law, which states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be subjected to discrimination under any education program”.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While the Obama administration had taken a proactive interpretation of this to also tackle homophobic and transphobic discrimination, DeVos stated she would not do so unless directed to by Congress.

She said: “We have continued to protect the rights of students as defined under Title IX, we have continued to do so, and consider those matters brought through the Office for Civil Rights.

“We will continue to do so until either the Supreme Court or Congress clarifies the law with regards to access to bathrooms, athletic locker rooms and athletic teams.

“That is not an area where law has been clarified. This department is not going to make law, we are going to enforce laws that we are given to do.”

The comments have been slammed by LGBT activists.

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, said: “As Secretary DeVos fumbles through another congressional hearing, her record of walking-back LGBTQ protections and actively refusing to aid transgender students facing discrimination speaks for itself.