A group of transgender youth from across the state convened Thursday in Harrisburg in an emergency meeting to discuss issues impacting their community just days after the Trump administration struck down guidelines that protect transgender students in public schools.

About 20 transgender youth ranging in age from 12 to college age met at the Harrisburg headquarters of the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, a transgender youth advocacy group, which assembled the gathering to address pressing issues within the transgender community.

In a roundtable discussion facilitated by Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine, the state's first transgender official to hold the post, the mostly high school and college students covered a range of topics - from safety and harassment, to the need for teacher and parental support, school policies, bullying and job discrimination.

Ty Ringgold, a high school student from Pittsburgh, said President Trump did not have the right to take her rights away. Trump last week struck down guidelines aimed at protecting transgender students.

Foremost on everyone's mind was the action taken last week by President Trump, rescinding Obama-era guidelines aimed at ensuring the protection of transgender students in public school districts across the country.

"Obviously there's a lot of mixed emotion out there," said Jace White, a transgender man from Scranton. "A lot of people are scared. I'm one of those people. It's a scary time right now, but I think it can be taken as an opportunity for change and for people to take action."

In keeping a campaign promise to roll back the directives put in place by his predecessor, Trump rolled back guidelines that directed public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their chosen gender identity.

"If anything the recent events have made me want to be more active in my trans community and trans family and be more present and educate people more," White said.

Domini Pivovarnik, a transgender man from Pittsburgh, said it was vital for school districts to provide support to transgender students.

"A lot of trans kids don't get support at home," he said. "If schools support trans students, it helps them feel better about themselves. They are not getting the support at home so at least they are getting it someplace."

The debate over rights for transgender students has played out in Pennsylvania from both the federal and local levels.

Transgender students on Thursday met in Harrisburg for an emergency meeting of the Pennsylvania Youth Conference, an advocacy group for transgender youth. Dr. Rachel Levine, the state physician general and a transgender woman, is at center/right. At bottom left is Elissa Ridenour, one of the students who filed a lawsuit against Pine-Richland School District. A federal court on Monday issued an injunction against the district. The district must until the trial, allow transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

A federal court on Monday ordered a suburban Pittsburgh school district to allow three transgender high school students to use the bathroom of their choice while a lawsuit works its way through the court.

The decision from Pennsylvania federal judge Mark R. Hornak grants a preliminary injunction sought by the students as part of their lawsuit against the Pine-Richland School District's "gender-specific" bathroom policy adopted last year. The injunction effectively freezes enforcement of the bathroom policy as the lawsuit proceeds.

The district indicated it would implement the order beginning this past Wednesday. It has until March 15 to formally answer the students' legal complaint. Hornak indicated the students' lawsuit against Pine-Richland is likely to succeed, writing, "The Plaintiffs have shown a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the District's enforcement of Resolution 2 as to their use of common school restrooms does not afford them equal protection of the law as guaranteed to them by the Fourteenth Amendment."

Elissa Ridenour, one of the students who filed the lawsuit, on Thursday said that while she was encouraged and pleased by the court decision, she still harbored concerns over the rights and the safety of transgender students in her district and elsewhere.

"I feel we need to create a safe environment for all students and make sure they feel accepted," Ridenour said. "We need to provide as much support as we need. Even if we have people who aren't normally rooting for the community. We need as much support as we can get. This fight is not over. We will continue to do the best we can."

On March 28, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on what will likely be a landmark case regarding the rights of transgender students.

Teenager Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia in 2015 for the right to use the boys' bathroom. Successful in a lower court, Grimm's case pointed to the guidance from the Obama administration. With the Trump administration reversal of that guidance, the case could return to the lower court.

Of Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts, only a handful have enacted comprehensive transgender student policies. All were enacted last year, and include suburban Philadelphia districts: Great Valley, Springfield Township, Upper Dublin, Cheltenham and Lower Merion. The policies were unanimously adopted by school boards.

Aidan Williams said he thought the debate over bathroom rights for transgender people had little to do with bathrooms.

"It's about a deeper feeling," said Williams of Philadelphia. "I 'm labeled as other so I 'm not to use this facility that I identify with. Most trans people are unsafe in their bodies and the fact that now you are in a community that sees your body as unsafe..that's dehumanizing to people."

Levine said that while significant progress had been made in recent years, the transgender community had much more work ahead - particularly given the pushback from Washington.

"We have to make sure we don't get discouraged," she told the students gathered for the roundtable discussion. "We have to redouble our efforts."