Overview

• Mayor Eric Adams said he will review his authority to alter NYC Department of Education rules that let students use facilities consistent with their gender identity.
• At a press conference, Adams said he does not support boys and girls sharing the same restroom and pledged to consult city lawyers on potential changes.
• A letter from the U.S. Education Department’s civil rights office warned of a compliance issue and threatened magnet-school funding unless NYC adopts biology-based definitions and sex-separated facilities.
• New York State Education Department spokesperson J. P. O’Hare stated that limiting restroom access for transgender students would violate state law, and civil-rights groups including the NYCLU said the mayor lacks authority to impose a ban.
• The dispute unfolds during a heated mayoral race and against a divided legal backdrop, with split federal rulings and a recent Supreme Court order allowing a transgender boy in South Carolina to use the boys’ restroom while litigation proceeds.