School district won't back down in "impressive" legal battle with Trump admin over trans rightshttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/school-district-wont-back-down-in-impressive-legal-battle-with-admin-over-trans-rights/ 🔗Daniel Villarreal (8 Sep 2026)
Colorado's second-largest school district, Jefferson County Public Schools (Jeffco), has made history as one of the few local school districts to sue the Trump administration for its threats to cut off federal education funding unless the district drops its policies accommodating transgender students.
The administration threatened to cut off all $50 million of federal funding for the district's school meals and special education. Trump's Department of Education (ED) received a summons for the lawsuit on August 13 and referred the case to the Department of Justice (DOJ) without issuing any further legal response.
In March, the ED demanded that the school district stop recognizing trans students' gender identities and ban them from accessing the correct restrooms, sports teams, overnight accommodations, and other associated rights.
However, dropping these policies would violate state laws protecting trans students from educational discrimination. So, in response to the ED demand, Jeffco's interim school superintendent Rob Stein sued the department, stating that it didn't follow proper procedures in threatening to cut off funding and that it also deliberately misinterpreted Title IX to target trans students.
...Z Williams, an advocate for trans rights who co-directs the Bread and Roses Legal Center in Denver, told The New York Times that they felt "incredibly proud" of Jeffco's school board...
"Trans people are being more and more villainized and more and more marginalized," Z Williams said. "So it's really impressive for Jeffco to fight on these issues."------------------------------------------------
@Sarah B
