One critic of the Trump administration's repeal of protections for transgender students in public schools should come as no surprise: Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old inauguration performer and sister of a transgender woman currently suing her school district over the issue.
Evancho, a former contestant on America's Got Talent,tweeted at Donald Trump Wednesday evening, asking for a meeting with her and her sister to "discuss transgender rights."
SEE ALSO:Apple takes a strong stance against Trump's rolling back of trans bathroom protectionOn Wednesday, the Trump administration rolled back a previous Obama-era rule that allowed transgender students to use restrooms in public schools that matched their gender identity. The rule was challenged in the courts and is not currently being enforced.
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Prior to inauguration, Evancho received a great deal of backlash for her decision to perform at the event due to Trump's stance on LGBTQ rights, but in an interview with The New York Times the singer explained her commitment was unrelated to Trump's stance.
"I just kind of thought that this is for my country," Evancho said. "So if people are going to hate on me it’s for the wrong reason."
In an interview with ABC News on Thursday morning, Evancho and her sister -- who came out as transgender in 2015 -- spoke out about the repeal, and though Trump has yet to respond to Evancho's meeting request, she remains hopeful.
"I guess I just want to enlighten him on what I’ve seen my sister go through every single day in school and people just like her, what they deal with," Jackie said. "The discrimination, it’s terrible and I guess I kind of just really want him to relook at that."
The singer's sister chimed in, explaining that living with discrimination every day is extremely challenging and the president has the power to do something about it. "Donald Trump needs to know that being in such an unsafe environment won’t do any good for not only the transgenders [sic] in the LGBT community but also everyone as a whole," Juliet shared.
According to the Times interview, Juliet and her family took legal action against the Pennsylvania school district to fight for Juliet's bathroom rights and Mike Evancho, Jackie's father, said, "We're fighting [Juliet's transgender] discrimination at the high school. It doesn't matter who's going into the office, we would still fight that fight."
In addition to Evancho, Apple also delivered a statement taking a strong stance against Trump's decision, and celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Billy Eichner and Katy Perry also spoke out against the repeal.
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