On February 12, 2026, Defending Education (DE) filed a complaint against the Hawaii Department of Education with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. DE claims Hawaii is breaking Title IX, a law that bans sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds. DE also claims Hawaii is violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which bars government bodies, including public schools, from treating people differently because of their sex. On top of that, Hawaii’s pronoun rules violate the First Amendment, which protects free speech.
Title IX protects girls’ right to have bathrooms and locker rooms of their own. But the Hawaii Board of Education’s “Guidance on Supports for Transgender Students” requires public schools to let biological males into girls’ private spaces. It says “[s]tudents should have access to restrooms that correspond to their sincerely held gender identity.” Students who are uncomfortable can use a different restroom, such as a single-stall one. But the Guidance stresses that “[a] transgender student should not be compelled to use an alternative restroom.” In other words, if a boy in the girls’ bathroom makes girls feel unsafe, the girls are the ones who have to leave.
Hawaii’s rules also threaten students’ free speech. The Guidance says that refusing to respect a student’s gender identity, including by not using that student’s chosen pronouns, should be treated as discrimination, and district policies treat it as harassment. But caselaw makes clear that students don’t give up their right to free speech at school, and the government can’t force anyone to say something that they don’t believe.
Defending Education urges the Department to investigate every claim in its complaint, fix Hawaii’s illegal policies and practices, and order the right remedies.
Read the full complaint below:
