Faith leaders respond to reversal of transgender guidelines

(RNS) Religious leaders have voiced mixed reactions to President Trump's reversal of protections that allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

A sign protesting a recent North Carolina law restricting transgender bathroom access is seen in the bathroom stalls at the 21C Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C., on May 3, 2016. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File photo

(RNS) Religious leaders have expressed varied reactions to President Trump’s reversal of protections that specified transgender students could use bathrooms that corresponded with their gender identity.

The U.S. justice and education departments withdrew the Obama administration’s guidelines Wednesday in a joint letter from the civil rights arms of each department.

Here’s how some religious leaders affiliated with different groups and denominations responded.


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Faith in America

This group that advocates for LGBT equality in the pews and in legislation said in a letter to President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions:

” … If you decide to replace the protections enacted by the previous administration for LGBT kids in our public schools, please ensure that they are replaced with measures that will be applied nation-wide and serve the protections of our transgender youth with commensurate force.”

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Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

“This move is good for parents and good for families. Children are not pawns of the state to be used to advance the latest fashionable ‘right side of history’ cause. Christians must continue to insist that the worldview of the sexual revolution harms men and women and advocate for the inherent dignity of all.”

Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition

“The Obama administration usurped the will of the people and imposed their far left ideology on public schools and universities through coercion by the Departments of Education and Justice and now this overreaching federal mandate is being thrown on the trash heap of history where it belongs.”

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Nancy K. Kaufman, CEO of National Council of Jewish Women

“The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is disgusted by this betrayal, which puts transgender students at risk for bullying, harassment, and violence.”

Roy Speckhardt, executive director of American Humanist Association

“President Trump continues to show his complete disregard for basic human rights in his decision to reverse the Obama administration’s vital protections for transgender students. … Transgender students deserve equal protection under the law, and any removal of their right is an attack on our shared values.”

Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action

“With this latest assault on freedom and human dignity, President Trump has added transgender youth, along with immigrants, Muslims, women and people of color, as targets of his hateful and dangerous agenda. Transgender students are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society, often facing violence and painful social stigma both in and out of school. We should protect and embrace these children, not tell them that they are unworthy of equal rights and protection under the law.”

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