Pittsburgh's Evancho requests meeting with Trump over transgender bathroom guidance

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also took to Twitter, saying, “I'll do everything I can to make sure Pennsylvania remains a place where everyone feels welcome.”

I'll do everything I can to make sure Pennsylvania remains a place where everyone feels welcome. #WeAreNotThis https://t.co/5AsjovrAGT

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf)

February 23, 2017

The reversal is a setback for transgender rights groups, which had been urging Trump to keep the guidelines in place. Advocates say federal law will still prohibit discrimination against students based on their gender or sexual orientation.

Still, they say lifting the Obama directive puts children in harm's way.

"Reversing this guidance tells trans kids that it's OK with the Trump administration and the Department of Education for them to be abused and harassed at school for being trans," said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Activists protested the move Wednesday outside the White House. "Respect existence or expect resistance," read one placard.

Dena Stanley, a member of the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh who started her transition 13 years ago, said she was outraged by the Trump administration’s decision.

“They need to live their lives and be true in themselves, and they can't do that if they can’t be free and who they are,” she said. “We don't need this in our community. We fought too long and too hard for the little bit of rights we do have.”

Conservatives hailed the change, saying the Obama directives were illegal and violated the rights of fixed-gender students, especially girls who did not feel safe changing clothes or using restrooms next to anatomical males.

"Our daughters should never be forced to share private, intimate spaces with male classmates, even if those young men are struggling with these issues," said Vicki Wilson, a member of Students and Parents for Privacy. "It violates their right to privacy and harms their dignity."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer denied media reports that DeVos, who has been criticized for her stance on LGBT issues, had opposed the change but was overruled by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Spicer said any disagreement was merely over wording and timing.

"There is no daylight between anybody," Spicer said, adding that DeVos was "100 percent" on board with the decision.

The Obama administration's guidance was based on its determination that Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, also applies to gender identity.

The guidance did not sufficiently explain its interpretation of that law, Sessions said in a statement.

"Congress, state legislatures and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue," he said.

Legal experts said the change in position could impact pending court cases involving the federal sex discrimination law, including a case to be heard by the Supreme Court in March involving Gavin Grimm, a transgender teen who was denied bathroom access in Virginia.

The justices could decide not to hear the case and direct lower courts to decide that issue.

In a phone interview with the AP, Grimm said of the Trump action: "It's not positive. It has the possibility of hurting transgender students and transgender people. We're going to keep fighting like we have been and keep fighting for the right thing."

A patchwork of state laws could continue to emerge as a result of the change. Fifteen states have explicit protections for transgender students in their state laws, and many individual school districts in other states have adopted policies that cover such students on the basis of their gender identity, said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign. Just one state, North Carolina, has enacted a law restricting access to bathrooms in government-owned buildings to the sex that appears on a person's birth certificate. Lawmakers in more than 10 states are considering similar legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report, as well as Channel 11 News.