In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX “is not ambiguous” about sex being defined as “the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth”.
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Advocates for transgender students contend that the preliminary injunction denies protections to students and puts them at risk. “Thankfully, the injunction he issued applies nationwide and temporarily blocks this administration from requiring school districts to allow transgender students to choose which restroom and locker rooms to use”, wrote Graham.
The Justice Department has not said whether it will appeal the ruling.
A Texas Judge has blocked President Obama’s directive on transgender bathrooms.
The lawsuit is the second in recent months in which conservative states have sued over federal efforts to defend transgender rights.
(President Obama) is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform.
The Buffalo Public School District is expected to take up the issue when the board meets this week.
Essentially the “status quo” would be maintained and students would be dependent on their schools’ individual policies regarding bathroom usage.
Judge O’Connor, who was appointed by George W Bush, said schools should have been allowed to have a say before the White House directive was issued.
He said: “I think today is going to be a hard day for transgender students”. The challengers say the regulation – which bans the discrimination of transgender health treatment in federally-funded services – amounts to numerous statutory and constitutional violations, including infringing on the religious liberty of doctors.
Equality Utah executive Troy Williams called the ruling yet another slight against the dignity of transgender students. Republicans have argued such laws are common-sense privacy safeguards.
Texas, along with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kentucky and Kansas sued on behalf three medical organizations, two of which are affiliated with Christian groups.
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“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”, it read.
