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Seattle mayor says Trump transgender move is 'bullying'

(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

SEATTLE — Seattle's mayor decried "the bullying coming from the White House" and criticized a move by the Trump administration to end federal protection for transgender students that required schools to allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities.

Ed Murray said in a statement that President Donald Trump is sending a message that he doesn't respect individual rights.

Murray also said that by lifting the federal guidelines that had been issued by the Obama administration Trump was "ratcheting up the fear among marginalized communities."

Murray, who led the push to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, pointed to legislation passed in Seattle in 2015 that required public places to designate existing and future single-stall restrooms as all-gender facilities.