Phil Drake

pdrake@greatfallstribune.com

HELENA — A nonprofit organization that states its goals as protecting and strengthening Treasure State families has released a survey claiming a majority of Montanans oppose the federal government’s recent transgender schools directive for students to use bathrooms and locker rooms conforming with their gender identity.

The Laurel-based Montana Family Foundation said it found that 62 percent of 450 Montanans responding to its poll opposed the directive while 29 supported it.

“Montanans don’t support putting people who were born male in high school girls’ locker rooms,” Montana Family Foundation president Jeff Laszloffy said Wednesday. “It just raises too many unanswered questions about privacy and the equality guaranteed to girls on their sports teams under Title IX.”

In their decision, federal officials cited Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination at educational institutions that get federal funding.

The poll comes days after Montana Attorney General Tim Fox joined nine other states in a lawsuit opposing President Barack Obama’s May 13 directive, saying the president had overstepped his bounds. He said it also supersedes local school districts’ authority to address student issues on an individualized basis.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau issued a statement last week opposing Fox’s action, calling it “a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

“Here in Montana, we believe in local control of our public schools and trust our educators to do the right thing for all students,” she said.

The poll had a margin of error of 4.62 percent.

Foundation officials said 55 percent of those polled in the Missoula media market oppose the directive while 38 percent supported it.

In the poll, 72 percent of the respondents believed high school is too early to make a decision to change gender.

Laszloffy called the president’s directive a “classic example of federal overreach.”

“It jeopardizes local control and negates protections for girls’ sports under Title IX.”