News 2 reached out to Metro Nashville Schools and spokesperson Joe Bass said the ruling will not change the way they deal with bathroom issues for transgender students. “That can not 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”.
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“It doesn’t prevent a school district from passing a more extensive policy”, Fey said Monday of the court ruling.
“The bottom line is that all schoolchildren – straight, gay and transgender – deserve to use the bathroom without fear and harassment”, he said.
“We are pleased that the court ruled against the Obama administration’s latest illegal federal overreach”, Paxton said. “A school’s failure to treat students consistent with their gender identity may create or contribute to a hostile environment in violation of Title IX”, the letter said, in reference to the 1972 federal law banning gender discrimination in education.
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 ruling does not prohibit schools that allow transgender students to use the facilities of their choice from continuing to do so.
Reyes says the injunction doesn’t stop schools from following the directive if they want but stops federal officials from enforcing it until the court case is settled.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the charge against the administration, praised Sunday’s ruling.
The group also urged transgender students and their parents “to demand the support they need from their schools, including by filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights” if school officials don’t let them use whichever bathrooms they prefer not to use.
The suing states accused the agencies of issuing the guidelines by means of regulatory “dark matter”, a deluge of agency directives, notices, memoranda, guidance documents, and even blog posts which effectively create new policy without congressional legislation or Administrative Procedure Act (APA) protocols.
A few Nebraska school districts are developing local policies.
The U.S. Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was reviewing its options.
Williams said it’s “astonishing” that the state would join a “mean-spirited” lawsuit that denies transgender children the basic right to use a bathroom. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys’ restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.
“A ruling by a single judge in one circuit can not and does not undo the years of clear legal precedent nationwide establishing that transgender students have the right to go to school without being singled out for discrimination”, the five groups said in a statement.
He said: “I think today is going to be a hard day for transgender students. This recent injunction against transgender student protections stands in stark contrast to equality and we believe it will be overturned on appeal”.
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The lawsuit was filed in May by Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, and the Republican governors of Maine, Mississippi and Kentucky.
