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Trump signs executive order targeting transgender students, their teachers, and their schools

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The new executive order looks to end so-called radical indoctrination in schools and includes topics related to race, privilege, and oppression.

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President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Wednesday, banning schools that receive federal funding from allowing students to identify with the name and pronouns that best match their gender identity. It also bars the use of bathrooms and lockers by trans kids that best fit their gender identity and bans them from playing on the most appropriate sports team. Advocates say the order forces schools to deny the existence of transgender people.

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The order specifically calls out social transitioning of transgender students in public schools. Social transitioning may include things like coming out as trans or nonbinary, going by a different name, dressing in a way that aligns better with a person's gender identity, using a different type of voice, and using pronouns that better reflect a person's identity.

Trump's latest attack on transgender youth also targets the schools, teachers, counselors, and staff who support them. It requires parents of students to be notified if students request to use a different name or pronoun, potentially outing the student. Trans rights activists note this could put these students at risk of harm.

Related: EEOC won't advocate for trans and nonbinary people, in keeping with Trump's 'two sexes' order

Nicholas Hite, an attorney with the LGBTQ+ rights group Lambda Legal, slammed the order as "patently unconstitutional nonsense designed to demean transgender and all LGBTQ+ young people."

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Hite said in a press release that the order endangers trans and nonbinary youth in public schools and forces federally funded schools to expose students to bullying and abuse.

"Forcing schools to teach a skewed and fictitious version of history that denies our nation’s past injustices compounds the lawlessness of this order," Hite said. “Bans on using the correct restrooms threaten the safety and health of transgender and nonbinary youth. Denying the opportunity to participate in school sports programs with their classmates deprives them of the many opportunities and developmental benefits all agree come from joining in team sports. And compelling teachers to tell parents about a student’s in-school request that a chosen name or pronoun be used — contrary to the student’s wishes — can expose the student to violence in the home, as well as violating both the student’s independent rights and teachers’ freedom of speech and professional duties of care to their students."

Hite said Lambda Legal is considering legal steps.

Related: HRC & Lambda Legal announce lawsuit to block Trump’s renewed moves to ban transgender military service

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The Human Rights Campaign also called out the order.

“All students deserve to feel safe and welcome in school. But this new administration is making it clear they want to dictate to children, their parents, and educators what they can read, what they can learn, what they can say, and who they can be," the organization's president, Kelley Robinson, said. "They want to limit the ability to talk about the very existence of LGBTQ+ people in our schools and keep all our children from being taught an honest, accurate history of our nation. All young people–including LGBTQ+ students and the children of LGBTQ+ parents, who are accepted by the adults in their life have much better outcomes for mental health and other metrics. We owe it to them to ensure that they feel safe, respected and ready to learn when they’re at school.”

So did U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. He released this statement: “As a former teacher, I’m appalled by Donald Trump’s attempt to use the federal government to censor LGBTQI+ voices and stories in our schools and make LGBTQI+ students less safe. Every student deserves to be respected at school and receive an honest education, free from discrimination. America was founded on the principles of free speech, free expression, and freedom from government censorship, but President Trump doesn’t care about any of that. All he wants is to attack LGBTQI+ people — maybe to distract the public from the chaos his Administration is wreaking across the country.”

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