Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education issued new guidance Friday reminding schools that they have a responsibility to address gender identity or sexual orientation harassment, and that they should have a Title IX coordinator on staff to take care of such cases.
• Title IX, which says schools can't discriminate based on sex, has been a priority for President Barack Obama, who has stressed that LGBTQ students are protected under the regulation.
• The guidance also reminds schools that along with the requirement for a Title IX coordinator, those employees are also protected from retaliation for doing their job.

Dive Insight:

Schools "should investigate and resolve allegations of sexual or gender-based harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students using the same procedures and standards that it uses in all complaints involving sex-based harassment," the letter stated. 

In 2011, Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District had a case where a student was being harassed for not dressing or acting "in ways that conform to gender stereotypes," according to Lisa Maatz, the top federal relations staffer at the American Association of University Women. Maatz told the Huffington Post that in this case, the Title IX coordinator did not get involved, which was problematic and likely informed moves such as this guidance. 

Recommended Reading

The Huffington Post : Education Department Reminds Schools They Can't Ignore LGBT Harassment