BREAKING NEWS

US companies decry Trump action on transgender student rights

By REUTERS

FEBRUARY 24, 2017 01:01

NEW YORK - US companies led by tech firms Yahoo Inc, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp criticized the Trump administration's decision to revoke Obama administration guidance that allowed transgender public school students to use the bathroom of their choice.

Their statements evoked the opposition expressed by many businesses last year when the state of North Carolina passed a law that forces transgender people to use public restrooms matching their gender assigned at birth.

The resulting boycotts have cost North Carolina more than $560 million in economic activity, according to the online magazine Facing South.

Companies lacked the same opportunity to protest with their dollars in this instance, since the Trump administration action pertains to schools, but still signaled they stood with the Obama policy of using the federal government to expand transgender civil rights.

"It's ultimately going to come down to the business community to stop it because it's so bad for business," said Christopher Gergen, chief executive of Forward Impact, an entrepreneurial organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In unveiling the new direction on Wednesday, Trump administration officials argued that transgender policies should be an issue for the states to decide.

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