Trans Students Rally: New Yorkers Protest Trump At Stonewall

WEST VILLAGE, NY — New Yorkers are planning a rally on Thursday evening to protest President Donald Trump's recent moves to roll back federal protections for transgender students.

Activists plan to voice their opposition to Trump outside the Stonewall National Monument in the West Village, where they will condemn the Trump administration's decision to withdraw guidelines that instructed public schools to allow students to use the bathroom that matched their gender identity. The guidelines were issued by Barack Obama's administration in 2016. Obama justice and education department officials wrote last year that a "school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so."

On Wednesday, federal officials said that the guidelines did not "explain how the interpretation was consistent" with the federal Title IX law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote instead that Congress, state legislatures, and local governments should address the issue.

Organizers wrote that Thursday's event would be an "emergency rally to make it clear that we will fight to keep protections for Trans and gender non-conforming people and students." For more news from the West Village and New York City, subscribe to Patch's news alerts here.

A coalition of groups is organizing the rally, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. near the Stonewall National Monument in the West Village. Multiple elected representatives are expected to attended, including New York state senator Brad Hoylman and Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer.

Lead image via torbakhopper on Flickr.