Right step: Trump administration withdraws support for transgender choice

We hadn't figured out the White House's stance on the issue of transgender use of public restrooms, but a directive issued this week by the Trump administration makes it clear that it does not support former President Obama's order to permit students to use the restroom of their gender identity.

It comes as no surprise to us, since Trump is pretty much in the business of turning Obama orders upside down. It also fits in line with the conservative stance of a number of states, North Carolina among them, that believe the federal government was overreaching it authority by issuing the order.

More than a dozen states sued the federal government over the Obama-era rule. Now it will be left up to the individual states and school districts to interpret federal anti-discrimination law and decide how to handle the issue.

That is as it should be.

Here in North Carolina, lawmakers took it upon themselves to pass legislation that requires people to use the public facilities that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate. We still support that law and believe the Trump administration has taken the right step to give other states the freedom to decide matters on their own.

Published in Editorials on February 24, 2017 10:11 AM