Chase Strangio on the New Frontier of Attacks on Trans Youth

September is in full swing, and millions of students across the US are returning to school, though for many, this year looks like none other. As school districts across the country grapple with how to resume classes during a pandemic, many districts and their trans students are facing additional hurdles.

The Department of Education is now threatening to withhold funding from Connecticut schools that allow trans girls to compete on girls sports teams. Elsewhere, in spite of recent high profile victories affirming trans students’ right to use restrooms that match their gender, attacks on this right continue. And in state legislatures across the U.S., we’ve seen an alarming spate of bills attacking the rights of trans youth.

Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice for the ACLU’s LGBT Project, last joined us on At Liberty back in June, after a historic Supreme Court victory affirmed that employers cannot fire or discriminate against someone simply because they are LGBTQ. A few months later, that victory and his amazing career fighting for trans rights have landed him on TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2020.

Now, with students heading back to school — whatever that looks like — Chase joins us to talk about the battle for trans rights in and out of schools.