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A U.S. judge blocked an Obama administration policy that public
schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms
of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by 13
dissenting states just in time for the new school year.

While a setback for transgender advocates, the ruling is only
the latest salvo in a larger legal and cultural battle over
transgender rights that could be headed toward the U.S. Supreme
Court.

Following milestone achievements in gay rights including same-
sex marriage becoming legal nationwide in 2015, transgender
rights have become an increasingly contentious issue in the
United States, with advocates saying the law should afford them
the same rights extended to racial and religious minorities.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District
of Texas, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush,
issued a nationwide injunction siding with the 13 states and
blocking the Obama administration's bathroom guidelines on
Sunday, the evening before students in much of Texas and some of
the other affected states were due back in school.

O'Connor found the federal government failed to provide states
with sufficient notice and opportunity for comment before
issuing the guidelines. He also said the guidelines had the
effect of law and contradicted existing legislative and
regulatory texts.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement it was
disappointed by the decision and was reviewing its options.
Legal experts expected it to appeal, likely asking to put
O'Connor's ruling on hold until the case could be litigated.

In May, the Justice and Education departments issued guidance
that public schools must allow transgender students to use
bathrooms, locker rooms and other intimate facilities of their
choice rather than those matching their gender assigned at
birth. The Justice Department has called the guidelines non-
binding, saying they had no legal consequences.

But they were also backed up by a threat to withhold federal
education money from states that refused to comply, drawing
objections from 13 states, led by Texas, that sued.

Some conservatives have fought an expansion of transgender
rights which thy see as an attack on privacy and an example of
federal government overreach.

In test cases around the country, various lower courts have
differed in their interpretation on whether anti-discrimination
laws apply to transgender people, potentially sending the matter
to the U.S. Supreme Court for a definitive resolution.

O'Connor's ruling is "just one small part of an unfolding
process," said Aaron Bruhl, a professor at William & Mary Law
School in Virginia.

"This won't be the last word on this subject, obviously," he
said. "There's a decent chance the U.S. Supreme Court could
address this issue in the near future."

Katherine Franke, a law professor at Columbia University, said
it was "shocking" that O'Connor had applied his injunction to
the entire nation, especially since "there's an opposite
decision from the 4th Circuit (Court of Appeals) and eight other
lawsuits pending."

'FEDERAL OVERREACH'

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican
who frequently sues the Democratic Obama administration, said he
was pleased with a decision against "illegal federal overreach."

But a group of five civil rights organizations supporting the
Obama policy said legal precedent protects transgender students
from discrimination, which a single judge cannot overturn.

"The court's misguided decision targets a small, vulnerable
group of young people - transgender elementary and high school
students - for potential continued harassment, stigma and
abuse," said the five groups, including the American Civil
Liberties Union and Lambda Legal.

The judge's decision came about eight hours before Jennifer
Campisi took her 9-year-old son E.J., a transgender student, to
the first day of school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. E.J. is
not allowed to use the boys' bathroom and instead must use
either the nurse's bathroom or a faculty bathroom.

"These policies just keep kids separate and they put unnecessary
stress on parents," she said, adding that allowing transgender
students to use the bathroom of their choice is the best
solutions for all.

Another mother, Alison Kelley, who has two children in the Fort
Worth Independent School District, said she opposed the Obama
guidelines and that local school authorities should decide what
is best case by case.

"I am not anti-transgender," Kelley said. "I am anti big
government getting into my backyard."

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz, Joseph Ax, Lawrence Hurley and
Julia Harte; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Bill Trott and
Bill Rigby)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt- idUSKCN10X18O?feedType=RSS&feedName=newsOne
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