Apple Speaks Out Against Trump’s Transgender Policy

Apple has criticized the Trump administration for ending Obama’s transgender bathroom rules. In a statement sent to Axios, Apple said the following:

“Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination. We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals. We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.”

Under the Obama administration public schools were required to allow students to decide which bathroom and locker rooms they used based on their sexual identity. Now, the Trump administration has pulled back this guidance, sending out a letter to public schools and notifying the Supreme Court about it, giving the transgender bathroom policy right back to the states.

The Washington Post has obtained a draft of the letter ahead the official release. The letter argues that applying the transgender bathroom rule has been a struggle for schools, as they have “struggled to understand and apply the statement of policy.”

As a result, the departments “have decided to withdraw and rescind the above-referenced guidance documents in order to further consider the legal issues involved.” This doesn’t mean that transgender students will be unprotected: the letter is clear on that, saying that schools must protect all students and the withdrawal of the above guidance “does not diminish the protections from bullying and harassment that are available to all students. Schools must ensure that transgender students, like all students, are able to learn in a safe environment.”

Apple has previously spoken out against the travel ban imposed by the Trump administration and has raised its voice against states that have sought to pass laws limiting LGBT rights, Axios notes.