A gender-neutral bathroom sign. [Source: Reuters]

The U.S. Department of Education said on Tuesday it was investigating whether the Denver school system discriminated against women and girls by converting a female bathroom into one for all genders.

Gender in schools has been a key issue for U.S. President Donald Trump and a hot-button topic around the country.

The department said Denver’s East High School “now has an exclusive restroom for male students and no restroom for female students on its second floor.”

The department also said it received reports of all-gender restrooms in at least two other Denver schools.

Denver Public Schools spokesperson Scott Pribble said the school system was aware of the investigation.

He added that the all-gender bathroom has stalls with 12-foot-tall partitions for privacy and serves all students, including those “who may feel uncomfortable in gender-specific facilities.”

Craig Trainor, an official in the education department’s civil rights office, said, “Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, (we) will not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

In a letter to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero, Trainor cited Title IX of 1972 education law amendments as the basis for the investigation. The law prohibits “discrimination on the basis of sex” by education programs that receive federal money.

When Trump took office on Jan. 20, he declared the federal government would only recognize two sexes – male and female. A lawsuit filed on Tuesday challenges a Trump executive order targeting transgender military members.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Kentucky struck down an initiative of former President Joe Biden that barred discrimination by schools and colleges, ruling that Title IX permits sex-specific bathrooms, dorms and other facilities.

If found to have violated Title IX, a school can face penalties including loss of federal funding but settlements have historically been more common.