FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
February 20, 2026
Contact: Levi Teitel, levi@progressmichigan.org
DOJ Investigation into Michigan Schools is Just the Beginning
Administration is targeting LGBTQ+ youth and employing bullying tactics
MICHIGAN – In response to the Department of Justice’s investigation which targets three school districts in Michigan over allegations related to “required instruction on sexual orientation and gender ideology,” Justin Mendoza, executive director of Progress Michigan, issued the following statement:
“The Department of Justice’s investigation targeting school districts in Michigan is a part of a broader attack on our rights as Michiganders. Michigan’s civil rights laws explicitly protect LGBTQ+ students, and our state must enforce them to the fullest extent.
“Let’s be clear: this is just the next step towards the Trump administration’s harm to the most vulnerable and historically marginalized among us. As the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Yet, Republicans at the state and federal levels are trying to limit honest conversations about our nation’s history, while fighting each and every attempt to create safe, inclusive schools for our children.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is setting a terrible example for younger generations—considering the way she behaved at a recent congressional hearing where she name-called members of Congress—and now she’s going a step further by throwing nondiscrimination policies into the dumpster. People of all genders, races and backgrounds benefit from strong nondiscrimination policies. Nondiscrimination means all of our kids can thrive at school free from bullying, harassment, and other unfair treatment.
“From Marquette to Monroe, teachers, students, and their families are committed to having an educational system that reflects the diversity of the world they live in. Classrooms deserve to have age-appropriate conversations about health, identity, and respect, and if parents choose to opt their children out of participating in these conversations, they are already allowed to by Michigan law. The Trump Department of Justice is truly looking to invent problems instead of actually fighting crime and violence towards youth, and Michiganders won’t take this intrusion into our education system.”
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