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WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas has sided with school
districts opposing the Obama administration's directive on
transgender bathrooms, temporarily blocking the directive just
before on the first day of school in Texas Monday.

The ruling prevents the U.S. Department of Education from
implementing guidance that required school districts to allow
transgender students to choose which restroom and locker
facilities to use.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's 38-page order said federal
agencies exceeded their authority under the 1972 law banning sex
discrimination in schools. The injunction applies nationwide,
and follows a number of other recent court rulings against
transgender students and employees.

The Texas ruling, issued late Sunday, turned on the
congressional intent behind Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972, which requires that "facilities provided for students
of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for
students of the other sex."

"It cannot be disputed that the plain meaning of the term sex"
in that law "meant the biological and anatomical differences
between male and female students as determined at their birth,"
the judge wrote. "Without question, permitting educational
institutions to provide separate housing to male and female
students, and separate educational instruction concerning human
sexuality, was to protect students’ personal privacy, or
discussion of their personal privacy, while in the presence of
members of the opposite biological sex."

The judge also ruled that the guidance failed to follow the law
requiring that it get input from the public before drafting new
regulations, and suggested that the federal guidance could be
implemented if the Department of Education conducts a more
formal rule-making process.

And he emphasized that nothing in the law prohibits other states
from requiring transgender facilities on their own. “Those
states who do not want to be covered by this injunction can
easily avoid doing so by state law,” he said. Other lawsuits by
transgender students can also go forward, he said.

"This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the
protection of students’ rights and that of personal privacy when
using school bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other
intimate facilities, while ensuring that no student is
unnecessarily marginalized while attending school," wrote
O'Connor, who was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007
and sits in Fort Worth, Texas. "The sensitivity to this matter
is heightened because defendants’ actions apply to the youngest
child attending school and continues for every year throughout
each child’s educational career."

The decision is at least the third legal setback for transgender
rights in federal court this month. The U.S. Supreme Court
blocked a lower court ruling requiring a Virginia school
district to allow a biologically female transgender student to
use the boy's restroom on Aug. 3. And last Thursday, a federal
judge in Detroit upheld the firing of a transgender funeral home
employee, ruling that "neither transgender status nor gender
identity are protected classes" under anti-discrimination laws.

The Texas case was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton,
a Republican, who led a group of plaintiffs that included 12
other states and two school districts.

The plaintiffs argued that the Obama administration guidance
came with the implicit threat that federal education funds could
be withheld if school districts refused to allow transgender
students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender identity.
The guidance also had implications for federal student privacy
laws, threatening education officials with sanctions if they
fail to address students by their preferred gender pronouns.

In a statement, Paxton praised the ruling as correcting "illegal
federal overreach" by the Obama administration.

"This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the
elected representatives of the people, and is threating to take
away federal funding from schools to force them to conform,"
Paxton said. "That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why
we took action to protect states and school districts, who are
charged under state law to establish a safe and disciplined
environment conducive to student learning.”

The Texas judge’s ruling came the day before the first day of
classes for most Texas public schools.

Paul Castillo, a Dallas attorney for the gay rights group Lambda
Legal, called the injunction a “bump in the road” and said the
case will likely proceed to the federal district court in New
Orleans and the U.S. Supreme Court, where it ultimately be
resolved.

“Transgender students are already at high risk of harassment and
being targeted for discrimination,” he said. “This decision is
certainly indicative of the harm to transgender students who are
simply seeking to be treated equally in all aspects of their
education.”

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said the Obama
administration was disappointed in the decision and that "we are
reviewing our options.”

Contributing: Rick Jervis in Austin, Texas and Christopher
Collins of the (Wichita Falls, Texas) Times Record News.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/08/22/texas- judge-temporarily-blocks-obamas-transgender-directive/89094722/
 

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