Beyoncé breaks social media silence to criticise Trump on transgender rights

The Formation singer, who made headlines earlier this month when she announced she was expecting twins, has directed her fans to support US LGBTQ school advocacy group, GLSEN.

​"LGBTQ students need to know we support them," she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday to her 64 million followers. "Share your support to protect trans youth."

Beyoncé posted a link to information about the group's "100 Days of Kindness" action, a social media campaign which invites people to post messages of support to LGBTQ school students.

The singer's post came a day after US President Donald Trump announced his team would revoke guidelines created by the Obama administration on the use of bathrooms by transgender students in the country's public schools.

The guidelines, which threaten to withhold federal funding if schools do not allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as, were developed following a number of state cases sparked by the decision of a Colorado court to allow a six-year-old transgender girl to use the girls' bathroom at her primary school in 2013.

Under Trump's changes, the matter will return to the states, potentially to be determined by state courts on an instance-by-instance basis.

The singer was not alone in criticising the US President's rollback of protections for transgender students using school bathrooms.

A number of celebrities took to social media to express their upset at the changes.

Orange is the New Black star and transgender actress Laverne Cox wrote on Instagram, "Trans people have a right to exist in public space with equal access."

Others drew attention to organisations such as the ACLU and the US and Canada-wide Trans Lifeline, for their fans to support.