An Oklahoma school board said it will not rescind a 7-year-old policy allowing bathroom use based on gender identity unless forced to by the state government.
The controversy began after Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor and state Education Secretary Ryan Walters sent separate letters to the Stillwater School Board earlier this month, informing the district that its policy allowing students to use bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex was inconsistent with Title IX prohibitions on sex discrimination.
On Monday, the board responded to the two letters with a resolution that asked the state government to “promulgate an emergency rule that provides clear directives to all Oklahoma public school districts concerning the use of student restrooms, and guidance on how to implement such directives.”
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In the meantime, the district will continue to implement its 2015 policy on school bathroom use, “unless it has no choice but to alter its practices because of the binding authority directing otherwise,” board Vice President Tim Riley said Monday, according to the Oklahoman.
In his letter to the board, Walters accused the district of choosing “radicals over your students, ideology over biology, and ‘wokeness’ over safety,” and he said that if the district does not reverse course, he will “do everything in my power to protect the children of Stillwater and restore safety and common sense.” Walters is seeking elected office as the state superintendent of public instruction.
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O’Connor, who is seeking reelection as attorney general, wrote to the district that “no legal precedent currently requires Oklahoma schools to open women’s restrooms and locker rooms to biological males and vice versa,” before noting his office is “pushing back” against the Biden administration’s actions on school bathroom use, which he called “attempted and lawless overreach.”
