Jamie Ball, Truman State University Institutional Compliance Officer and Title IX Coordinator, sent out an email Feb. 24 explaining despite political and social climates shifting and the recent rescinding of former President Barack Obama’s federal guidance regarding transgender bathrooms by President Donald Trump’s administration, that “there will be no changes to any of the policies which support and protect transgender people in our community, and Truman’s commitment to making the University as safe, respectful and inclusive a place as possible remains unchanged.”
A guidance, unlike actual federal legislation that states must follow, provides information and examples to inform recipients about how different governing bodies, like the U.S Department of Education, for example, should evaluate if organizations are complying with their legal obligations, according to the United States Department of Justice.
Ball says information from the Office for Civil Rights indicated schools will not be required by the reversal of this guidance to enact any bathroom policies, but the federal government is not going to be as supportive in fighting against the bathroom policies that some jurisdictions are trying to impose in schools.
Ball says the policies at Truman have remained that students can use the bathroom they feel most comfortable using.
“For us, right now, nothing needs to change,” Ball says. “We’re the same community we’ve always been. But because some of the stuff coming out of our federal government is a little confusing, it seemed appropriate a time to just remind the community nothing needs to change here. Pee where you want to pee.”