GLAAD STATEMENT AND FACTS IN RESPONSE TO TITLE IX RULING BY KENTUCKY-BASED FEDERAL JUDGE

GLAAD: “Transgender and nonbinary students are among the most bullied and harassed in school. Protections for the most vulnerable students make the entire school safer and stronger for everyone.”

(Thursday, January 9, 2025 – New York, NY) GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to a federal judge’s ruling dismissing expanded protections for transgender students via Title IX.

Statement from GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her):
“All students deserve to be themselves and be safe in school. Transgender and nonbinary students are among the most bullied and harassed. Protections for the most vulnerable students make the entire school safer and stronger for everyone.”

Ellis’ statement is also available on Bluesky, Threads and Instagram.

All students deserve to be themselves and be safe in school. Transgender and nonbinary students are among the most bullied and harassed. (1/2)thehill.com/homenews/sta…

— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis.bsky.social) 2025-01-09T20:37:38.623Z

Additional resources and guidance for media:

• Include LGBTQ voices in stories about LGBTQ people and topics.
• Legislative targeting of transgender people and youth has surged over the last several years to include restrictions on school sports, medically-necessary and supported health care, book bans and curriculum bans, and access to the restroom.
• 2024 CDC research shows that transgender students face disproportionate bullying, distress and increased risk of self-harm from being ostracized and excluded at school.
  • 40% of transgender and questioning students have experienced bullying at school.
  • 25% of transgender students and 26% of questioning students skipped school because they felt unsafe.
  • 65% of trans students reported poor mental health in the previous 30 days.
  • The CDC urged schools to “create safer and more supportive environments for transgender and questioning students” with inclusive activities, mental health and other health service referrals, and implementing policies that are LGBTQ-inclusive.
• Avoid quotes that include the term “gender ideology” – an inaccurate and dehumanizing term used by opponents of transgender people – more info here.
• Among the attorneys general who fought to reject protections for vulnerable students is Tennessee’s Jonathan Skrmetti. Reporters should include Skrmetti’s history of activating against transgender youth with discriminatory, outdated, non-expert supported policies and bans.
  • Skrmetti’s name is on the Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee’s ban on mainstream medical care for trans youth, care that remains legal and allowed for cisgender (non transgender) youth but banned for transgender youth, a violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
  • Medical care for transgender people and youth is supported by every major medical association across patient lifespan – 30+ statements here.

More info on the Skrmetti case and discriminatory health care ban in Tennessee, here.

• Reporters covering education and transgender student targeting must include the anti-LGBTQ history of public figures and groups. These include:
  • Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has fought and lost efforts to codify discrimination against LGBTQ couples looking to marry, adopt, work, and buy a cake. Investigations found fraudulent behavior from ADF including plaintiffs with no standing to bring cases, and its current president used her daughter to bring a false allegation against another student to support a ban on transgender students in school sports – the student was not transgender. ADF submitted an amicus brief to support Tennessee’s discriminatory health care ban.
  • Previous federal judges have rejected legal efforts by anti-LGBTQ book banning group “Moms for Liberty.” The group is not grassroots, or a “parents’ rights” group, as they do not represent the rights of LGBTQ parents or parents of LGBTQ students, and their affiliated candidates have been defeated in school board elections nationwide.
• Challenge for facts, or do not quote, lawmakers who claim they support “keeping women and girls safe.” Check for votes against abortion, mifepristone, and protections to access contraception. Claims about policies that target transgender people and youth in the name of “safety” for other women and girls should be contrasted with a record that explicitly endangers them. 200+ profiles of public figures on the GLAAD Accountability Project, here.