WASHINGTON — In the middle of a legal fight with North Carolina over transgender rights, the Obama administration is planning to issue a sweeping decree telling every public school district in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.
The letter to school districts that will go out Friday describing what they should do to ensure that none of their students are discriminated against, signed by officials of the departments of Justice and Education, does not have the force of law. But it contains an implicit threat: Schools that do not abide by the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid.
The move is certain to draw fresh criticism, particularly from Republicans, that the federal government is wading into local matters and imposing its own values on communities across the country that may not agree. It represents the latest example of the Obama administration using a combination of policies, lawsuits and public statements to change the civil rights landscape for gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender people.
After supporting the rights of gay people to marry, allowing them to serve openly in the military and prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against them, the administration has made bathrooms its latest battleground.
“No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus,’’ Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said in a statement. “We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence.’’
In Massachusetts, advocates for the transgender community lauded the Obama administration on Thursday night for its directive. But the advocates pointed out the state outlawed discrimination against students based on gender identity in 2011.
“Federal officials are continuing to send a clear message to transgender youth that they have their backs, and that is an incredibly important and powerful message — particularly right now,’’ Kasey Suffredini, chief program officer for Freedom for All Americans, a group backing a separate transgender rights bill pending in Massachusetts, said in a statement.
In Massachusetts, students have been able to chose their bathroom based on gender identity since July 2012, when the state’s 2011 law barring discrimination took effect.
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education later published guidelines for school officials in implementing the legislation.
Regarding bathrooms, the guidelines stated that “the principal should be clear with the student (and parent) that the student may access the restroom, locker room, and changing facility that corresponds to the student’s gender identity.’’
The guidelines also said that while some students may not feel comfortable having a transgender student in their restroom, such discomfort “is not a reason to deny access to the transgender student.’’
Separately, a transgender rights bill was approved by the Massachusetts Senate on Thursday that would prohibit discrimination in public spaces such as parks and restaurants. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.
Courts have not settled the question of whether the nation’s sex discrimination laws apply in matters of gender identity. But administration officials, emboldened by a federal appeals court ruling in Virginia last month, think they have the upper hand. This week, the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over a state law that restricts access to bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms.
“A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so,’’ according to the letter, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times.
A school’s obligation under federal law “to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of sex requires schools to provide transgender students equal access to educational programs and activities even in circumstances in which other students, parents, or community members raise objections or concerns,’’ the letter states. “As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others’ discomfort cannot justify a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students.’’
As soon as a child’s parent or legal guardian asserts a gender identity for the student that “differs from previous representations or records,’’ the letter says, the child is to be treated accordingly — without any requirement for a medical diagnosis or birth certificate to be produced. It says that schools may — but are not required to — provide other restroom and locker room options to students who seek “additional privacy’’ for whatever reason.
Attached to the letter, the Obama administration will include a 25-page document describing “emerging practices’’ that are already in place in many schools around the country. Those included installing privacy curtains or allowing students to change in bathroom stalls.
In a blog post accompanying the letter, senior officials at the Justice and Education departments said they issued it in response to a growing chorus of inquiries from educators, parents and students across the country, including from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, to clarify their obligations and “best practices’’ for the treatment of transgender students.
“Schools want to do right by all of their students and have looked to us to provide clarity on steps they can take to ensure that every student is comfortable at their school, is in an environment free of discrimination, and has an opportunity to thrive,’’ wrote Catherine E. Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education for civil rights, and Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The White House has called North Carolina’s law “meanspirited,’’ and said this week that federal agencies were continuing a review of their policies on the treatment of transgender people while the administration waged its legal battle with the state.
President Obama condemned the law last month, saying it was partly the result of politics and “emotions’’ that people had on the issue.
“When it comes to respecting the equal rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation, whether they’re transgender or gay or lesbian, although I respect their different viewpoints, I think it’s very important for us not to send signals that anybody is treated differently,’’ Obama said at a news conference in London.
The struggle over the rights of transgender people has reverberated on the presidential campaign trail and become a defining issue in the final year of Obama’s tenure, prompting boycotts of North Carolina by some celebrities and businesses that had planned to create jobs there.
Some Republicans have defended North Carolina’s law by arguing that it would be inappropriate to allow transgender women to use the same bathroom as young girls. Before ending his presidential bid last week, Senator Ted Cruz charged that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, “both agree that grown men should be allowed to use the little girls’ restroom.’’
Travis Andersen of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
