Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images.

There’s an emergency rally at the White House tonight for people protesting the Trump administration’s decision to roll back protections for transgender students.

“The Trump administration needs to know that trans students, our families, and our allies will not stand for this callous attack on trans children,” says the page for the event, which is being organized by the National Center for Transgender Equality and begins at 6 p.m.

In May, the Departments of Justice and Education under President Barack Obama released guidance that directed public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

“Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow,” Vanita Gupta, the former head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said at the time. “Our guidance sends a clear message to transgender students across the country: here in America, you are safe, you are protected and you belong—just as you are.”

While the guidance was not law, 11 states sued, accusing the Obama administration “foisting its new version of federal law” on federally funded schools.

Now, the Trump administration is rescinding that guidance. The New York Times reports that the decision pitted Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, both of whom needed to sign off on the change. Per the Times:

Ms. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to three Republicans with direct knowledge of the internal discussions. The draft order would reverse the directives put in place last year by the Obama administration to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice.

Mr. Sessions, who strongly opposes expanding gay, lesbian and transgender rights, fought Ms. DeVos on the issue and pressed her to relent because he could not go forward without her consent. The order must come from the Justice and Education Departments.

Mr. Trump sided with his attorney general, these Republicans said, telling Ms. DeVos in a meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he wanted her to drop her objections. And Ms. DeVos, faced with the choice of resigning or defying the president, has agreed to go along. The Justice Department declined to comment on Wednesday.

The question of bathrooms took front and center after North Carolina passed a controversial bill that, among other things, prevented transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates. The law prompted boycotts, travel bans, and contributed to Governor Pat McCrory’s defeat in November.

The issue has also been working its way through the courts. One such case is Virginia student Gavin Grimm, who sued the Gloucester County school board after it issued a policy barring the transgender teen from using the boy’s restroom.

The federal civil rights case is now going to be heard by the Supreme Court. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Grimm and the American Civil Liberties Union in April.

Grimm will be at tonight’s rally in front of the White House, and more than 150 others have already RSVPed “yes.”

“This is about the right for trans people to exist in public spaces. If you can’t use the restroom, you can’t go out,” Grimm told Teen Vogue. “We are normal people just striving to be ourselves. We’ve been around for as long as people were around, and our transness does not make us dangerous or perverse or insidious.”

For those unable to make it, the NCTE suggests writing a letter to the editor, encouraging one’s school district to support trans-friendly policies, and volunteering or contributing to an LGBT equality or legal group.

D.C. law states that people can use whatever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity.

Learn more about the rally here.