“But in the short term, this has got to feel devastating for all these kids who just want to go to school, they just want to be kids”. Others praised it, calling it an important step toward accepting students who are transgender.
Advertisement
But five civil rights groups insisted that the ruling can not undo years of legal precedent protecting transgender students from discrimination.
Texas and 12 other states, including Wisconsin, challenged the the White House directive as unconstitutional.
He also found that the Administration didn’t allow for any comment on the guidelines.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange called the ruling “a victory for parents and children all across Alabama”.
On Sunday night, a federal judge ruled to not enforce the Obama administration’s attempts to protect and extend civil rights to transgender students.
The Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was now reviewing its options.
The injunction will remain in place until the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the case.
According to a report from the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor said the Obama administration should have listened to input from schools before announcing the directive in May.
The school year is off to a rough start for transgender students.
Wichita Falls’ federal court was also the site chosen for conservative states to sue the government for opening school bathrooms to transgender students.
“Our administration will continue to defend the Tenth Amendment and fight to uphold the rights of communities to maintain local control over their schools”.
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 US Supreme Court for a definitive resolution.
“The only effect that this ruling will definitely have is make students more likely to face abuse and hostility in schools, and it’s hard to see why that’s in anybody’s interest”, he says. “The decision is certainly emotional and certainly an attack on transgender students’ dignity”.
U.S. authorities had issued written guidelines in May, built on existing laws against sexual discrimination, which asked schools to let youths use the bathrooms matching their gender identity rather than the sex on their birth certificate. “But other courts in the USA have tackled similar questions differently, and experts said the order doesn’t prevent schools from having the policies encouraged by the federal government”.
Advertisement
The Obama administration had told the court that recipients of federal education dollars “are clearly on notice” that antidiscrimination polices must be followed.
