LAFAYETTE, L.a. (KLFY) – Friday, The U.S. Department of Education told school districts that federal law requires them to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms “consistent with their gender identity.”

All public schools in the country received a letter from the Departments of Education and Justice that offers guidance for how transgender students should be treated.

Nick Saloom is the President of GLASS at UL of Lafayette and said, “it’s definitely a change for the better.”

The department of education said requiring transgender students to use same-sex

facilities violates Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex.

“It may seem like a huge ordeal or travesty to individuals but it’s only a matter of time,” said, Saloom, “A few years down the line this won’t be anything major; it’ll be something accepted by the majority of the population.”

The letter suggests allowing transgender students to use alternate facilities, installing curtains for added privacy or adjusting schedules to allow them to change when no one else is using the locker room.

“I’m against it,” said Milton Abshire “I’ve got kids and grandkids, I think it’s wrong.”

The guidance doesn’t have the force of law, but tells schools how the Department of Education intends to enforce Title IX in the future.