by Ugh
Or "how the federal government came to 'meddle' in who can pee where in our public schools."
So it seems people might have heard about the Obama Administrations saying schools receiving federal funds that wish to continue to receive them* must treat transgender students in accordance with their gender identity. Thus, a child born with male genitalia but who identifies as a girl must be allowed to participate on girls sports teams and, pertinent for purposes of this post, use the girl's restroom. This has caused a little bit of consternation in some quarters, including such statements as Obama is "allowing men to have open access to girls in bathrooms" and that "the Obama administration just destroyed the traditional American public school." Golly, what a meanie that Obama is.
Setting aside what appears to be certain high-level GOPers not having that high of an opinion of half the population (and in a twist, not the usual half; it also smacks of campus feminists publishing in the campus newspaper all the names of male undergraduates under the heading "Potential Rapists" – strange bedfellows**), you might ask yourself why the federal government is in the business of saying who can use what bathroom in, say, a Des Moines Elementary School. The simple answer is, of course, Title IX (20 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1688). Signed into law by raging leftist Dick Nixon (he says, just for fun). More below.