How a Trump term could impact California’s LGBTQ+ students, financial aid

Once again, look for changes in how the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights operates in enforcing Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex by educational institutions that receive federal funding; and Title VI, which prohibits prejudice based on race, color, or national origin.

The Trump administration is expected to reverse the Biden administration’s position that Title IX covers gender and sexual identity, providing new protections for LGBTQ+ people.

During his campaign, Trump also referred to his desire to do so ban transgender student-athletes to prevent them from participating in sports teams that match their gender identity.

He did not reveal how he would do that. But soon after his inauguration, “I expect Trump will take action on anti-transgender issues surrounding transgender girls in sports,” said USC education professor Morgan Polikoff.

Conservative positions on “parental notification” could also play a role, especially in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill this year that bans this rules requiring school districts to alert parents when students come out as transgender or ask to use a different name and pronoun than what appears on their school records.

Advocates in several school districts, including Chino Valley Unified in San Bernardino County, say the reporting policy aims to inform parents about all aspects of their children’s lives. Opponents deride the policy as a “forced out” that makes schools less safe for LGBTQ+ people.

Trump will also likely return to the rules established during his first term — and that was the case effectively overthrown by President Biden this year – which has tightened the definition of sexual harassment, raised the standard of proof for successful claims and allowed advisors of accused students to cross-examine their accusers during a live hearing.

Trump’s first term Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said those changes were necessary to provide stronger protection for accused students from a fair trial. Critics said it would weaken the fight against sexual violence on campus.

The civil rights office is also expected to more vigorously investigate complaints of anti-Semitism and discrimination from students who claim they have been denied access to programs designed to help Latino, Black and other underserved demographic groupsfor example.

Trump and his allies have long criticized “DEI” programs — programs aimed at promoting diversity, equality and inclusion, which opponents say perpetuate a false and unpatriotic view that American institutions are inherently racist, with white people as oppressors.

Aside from investigations, funding is another tool the Trump administration could potentially use to rein in programs or curricula, including “critical race theory,” which they portray as anti-American, misguided “woke” efforts because they delve into in systemic racism. In late 2020, Trump issued an executive order banning recipients of federal grants and contracts from engaging in “race and sex scapegoating” — specifically calling for workplace diversity training that linked racism to white people. The order was challenged by civil rights groups as an unprecedented attempt at censorship before Biden reversed the order after taking office in 2021.

“The radical left is using the public school system to push their perverse sexual, racial and political material on our young people,” Trump’s statement on education said. “President Trump will cut federal funding to any school or program that pushes critical race theory or gender ideology on our children.”

Critical race theory is typically a university-level examination of how racial inequality and racism are systemically embedded in American institutions, although Trump and other conservatives have used the phrase as a catch-all to describe racially focused topics in K-12 public schools .

Stephanie Hall, senior director of higher education policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said it would be difficult to make the curriculum mandatory. Under a federal law enacted in the 1960s, state and local authorities are responsible for educational standards such as curriculum and workforce. An Obama-era law, the Every Student Succeed Act, also bans federal involvement in curriculum or teacher evaluation.

But that won’t necessarily prevent Trump’s efforts to intervene, she said.

“Expect a potential weaponization of the Office for Civil Rights to go after DEI initiatives,” she said.