The federal government found Denver Public Schools violated the Title IX civil rights law by converting a girls’ bathroom to one that is for all genders, which the federal government calls “discrimination” against female students.
The investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights was launched in January over an “all gender” bathroom at East High School and DPS’s broader policy that allows students to use facilities that align with their gender identity rather than biological sex. It was one of the first actions of the new Trump administration directed at the school level as part of its promise to eradicate “woke” ideology.
In a statement, acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor said the school district's actions have “created a hostile environment for its students by endangering their safety, privacy, and dignity while denying them access to equal educational activities and opportunities."
"Denver is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, but it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and harm its students in violation of Title IX," he said.
In a statement, DPS said it has just received the findings from the Office for Civil Rights and is determining its next steps.
Why the bathroom caught federal attention (and a second one didn't fix it)
In December, East High School converted a second-floor multi-stall restroom designated for girls into a restroom for all genders. The school said the change was made at the request of students and has 12-foot-tall partitions for privacy.
"This restroom serves all students, including those who may feel uncomfortable in gender-specific facilities and aligns with our values of supporting every student," DPS said earlier this year.
The federal Office for Civil Rights concluded that the conversion left female students without a single-sex bathroom on that floor, while male students retained a separate, exclusive restroom. The office determined the district violated Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination by placing the burden only on females to seek an exclusive restroom elsewhere.
Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools, states that districts “may provide separate toilet, locker room, and shower facilities on the basis of sex, but such facilities provided for students of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for students of the other sex.”
The school later converted the boys' restroom on the same floor into an “all-gender” facility. DPS said the new restroom was meant to address any disparity.
But the Office for Civil Rights determined that change didn't resolve the violation. It stated that "males are still allowed to invade sensitive female-only facilities."
The office reported the school received several complaints from students and parents. A female student reported that when her friend used the restroom, “boys kept staring at her, looking her up and down, kind of taunting her.” The student reported feeling "very uncomfortable" and that her "privacy and [her] rights has [sic] just been taken away" after male students began using the restroom, according to the office.
Another complainant shared concerns about a male teacher frequently entering the space to check on things and asked that it be a female teacher, according to a statement from the office.
The office also found the district is not in compliance with Title IX because of its online “Denver Public Schools LGBTQ+ Toolkit,” which states that "transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students have the right to use facilities … that match their gender as consistently expressed at school."
The office said that violates the law because it allows males into sensitive female-only spaces (and vice versa).
An executive order on "Gender Ideology" signed in the first week of the new administration mandates that the federal government recognize only two biological sexes: male and female. The order states that "federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology."
Scott Skinner-Thompson, an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Boulder who focuses on LGBTQ issues, told Chalkbeat that the Trump administration's argument was legally weak.
“Title IX has never required identical facilities. It’s only ever required comparable facilities,” he said. “Creating an all-gender restroom doesn’t exclude anyone.”
Resolution proposed:
Under a proposed resolution agreement, the district has 10 days to voluntarily comply or face "imminent enforcement action." The agreement would require DPS to:
- Revert all bathrooms that were converted for all-gender use back to single-sex facilities.
- Rescind any policies or guidance that allow students to use private spaces like restrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex, including parts of the "Denver Public Schools LGBTQ+ Toolkit."
- Issue a memo to all schools that they must provide private and safe bathrooms that are equally available to male and female students.
- Adopt biology-based definitions for "male" and "female" in all policies and practices related to Title IX.
