In a Congressional hearing yesterday, Betsy DeVos refused to answer a question about whether or not she thinks it is acceptable for schools to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
.@repmarkpocan: Do you think it's alright for a school to discriminate based on someone's sexual orientation or gender identity?
DeVOS: We have laws that cover discriminatory efforts.
POCAN: … is that a yes or no?
In Tuesday’s hearing, DeVos said that school’s shouldn’t discriminate against students in regard to their “race, religion, and national origin,” but didn’t mention sexual orientation or gender identity. This is fairly unsurprising, given that DeVos has previously tried to strip protections for transgender students and has said that federal law doesn’t clearly protect against discrimination against gender identity in schools.
“We follow the law as this body has defined,” DeVos said.