NYC Public Schools Becomes Latest To Defy Trump Trans Bathroom Ban Demands, Launches Lawsuit

“U.S. DOE’s threat to cut off tens of millions of dollars in magnet funding unless we cancelled our protections for transgender and gender expansive students is contrary to |law|"

Photo by Atharva Patil on Unsplash

In recent months, some of the nation’s most elite universities have folded under the Trump administration’s demands to ban transgender students from bathrooms, sports, and even recognition altogether. Hospitals, too, have caved to federal funding threats designed to force compliance with discriminatory policies. But one place has emerged as a bulwark of resistance: local school boards. When faced with the same threats—to lose millions in federal funding unless they betray their transgender students and teachers—these communities have refused to back down. First it was Virginia, then Denver and Chicago. Now, New York City Public Schools, the largest public school system in the country, has joined them, declaring it will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands.

On September 16, Trump’s Department of Education sent a letter to New York City Public Schools outlining six demands that explicitly targeted trans and queer students. Among them: banning recognition of transgender students’ gender identities, barring them from bathrooms and sports, and mandating discriminatory treatment in overnight accommodations. The letter threatened to withhold $47 million in federal grant funding if the city did not comply by the end of the month. Instead, New York City refused—and went on the offensive, filing a lawsuit against the federal government for unlawfully withholding the money.

“With this lawsuit, New York City Public Schools is fighting back against the U.S. Department of Education’s attack on our magnet program and transgender and gender expansive students,” said New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “U.S. DOE’s threat to cut off tens of millions of dollars in magnet funding unless we cancelled our protections for transgender and gender expansive students is contrary to federal, state, and local law, and, just as importantly, our values as New York City Public Schools. My deepest commitment is to provide our magnet students, our transgender and gender expansive students, and every single student at New York City Public Schools with the ability to thrive academically and socially; to achieve that, my team and I work tirelessly to ensure every student feels seen, supported, and safe. We use every possible tool to do that, as today’s legal action demonstrates.”

Lawsuit filed by New York City Board of Education

The complaint argues that the federal government violated its own procedures when pulling funds from the district—offering no formal hearing, no review process, and no opportunity for reconsideration. It also contends that New York City Public Schools’ policies are not only lawful but required: both state and federal laws, as well as multiple court rulings, affirm that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms matching their gender identity. The filing further emphasizes that New York’s gender identity protections—strengthened by protections passed in the most recent election—make the Trump administration’s demands not just discriminatory, but illegal.

The development marks the latest in a growing wave of school districts defying the federal government’s orders to discriminate against transgender students. Earlier this year, five Virginia school districts declared they would not comply with the administration’s demands. Soon after, Denver Public Schools followed suit, with its superintendent vowing that the district would “continue to stand in solidarity” with its transgender students. Chicago Public Schools joined next, stating unequivocally that it would “not back away from our commitment to Black, transgender, or any other student groups.”

That defiance stands in sharp contrast to the behavior of elite institutions that have capitulated under federal funding threats. Prestigious universities like Brown, Columbia, Harvard, and Penn have all agreed to impose restrictions on transgender students rather than risk losing federal dollars. The same pattern has emerged in the healthcare sector, where hospitals treating transgender youth have preemptively ended care despite there being no federal statute requiring it, only Trump’s executive orders, and often in violation of state law. Even some LGBTQ+ institutions are buckling under the pressure: this week, Fenway Health, one of the nation’s most prominent queer health centers, announced it would stop treating transgender youth, citing fear of federal retaliation.

The Trump administration has turned the power of the purse into a weapon, using the illegal withholding of congressionally appropriated funds to coerce compliance with its culture-war agenda. Too many elite institutions—shielded by privilege and distance from those directly affected—have caved to that pressure. But school boards are different. Their representatives answer directly to the communities they serve, and those communities are rejecting authoritarian blackmail. When faced with a choice between betraying their transgender students or defying Trump’s demands, these locally elected leaders are sending a clear message: the rights and dignity of queer and trans people are not bargaining chips in a hostage negotiation.