President Trump eliminated protections for transgender students that allow them to use the bathroom of their choice on Wednesday. In New Mexico鈥檚 largest school district, those rights are preserved.
respects the rights of transgender students to have access to the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. It鈥檚 been in place since May, in large part because the fought for it.
, the executive director of the center, said he鈥檚 worried about students in the rest of the state. "What we hear from trans students is that they try not to drink water so that they don鈥檛 have to navigate the bathroom," he said. "So that becomes a really serious health disparity for these young people, and of course, obviously an enormous distraction from being able to learn."
The APS policy also covers gender expression and dress codes, using a student鈥檚 preferred name and pronoun, discrimination and bullying, and more. Santa Fe Public Schools has a similar policy supporting transgender student rights. But with the federal protections removed, policies all over the state鈥攁nd country鈥攚ill be spotty. "We鈥檝e known a lot of young folks who didn鈥檛 graduate and did leave school early just because of the lack of safety that they felt in the school environment," Lawyer said.
