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Focus On The Family Weighs In On Transgender Bathroom Access

DENVER (CBS4) - The Obama administration is directing public schools nationwide to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity and the move is gaining harsh reaction from Focus on the Family.

"It's just an egregious federal overreach," Candi Cushman, Education Analyst with Focus on the Family, told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "You have in one sweeping action the White House setting policy for over 16,000 school districts and 7,000 colleges."

A joint letter from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice went to public schools Friday. It threatens to withhold funding from schools that do not allow students to use bathrooms based on their gender identity, even if it is not the same gender listed in school records.

RELATED: DPS In Line With Federal Guidelines On Transgender Access

"Setting policy for thousands of entities in one sweep is really going over the heads of parents, students and local school officials," Cushman said. "This should be a community issue that parents and students are allowed to work out according to how their community wants to approach it."

TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS  (2)
(credit: CBS)

Cushman said the concerns over the new guidelines go beyond federal overreach and parental rights, too. She said it is also a safety issue.

"You have common sense issues of safety for the most vulnerable members of our society," Cushman said. "We know there are predators out there unfortunately who are looking for loopholes. We're by no means saying this applies to students or individuals, who identify as transgender in schools, but we are saying there are predators who look for loopholes and what makes us think they're not going to look at this one?"

Some school systems around the country already accommodate transgender students when it comes to bathroom use, including many schools in Colorado.

"Transgender students only want to live their lives and go to school like every other student does, and that includes being able to use the bathroom without harassment," said Dave Montez, Executive Director of One Colorado.

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