U.S District Judge Reed O’Connor of Fort Worth, in issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction, said that federal officials didn’t follow proper procedures in creating the directives.
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A federal judge in Texas is blocking for now the Obama administration’s directive to US public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a press conference announcing a lawsuit filed against the federal government over rules for transgender bathrooms in public schools.
O’Connor did not issue a ruling from the bench earlier this month after a hearing during which state attorneys – as part of a Texas-led, 13-state effort to block the guidelines nationwide – argued they unconstitutionally “hold a gun to the head” of states and school districts. “That can not be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts”.
The White House directed public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. The directive was issued days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law requiring residents to use public restrooms matching their gender at birth.
“We are pleased that the court ruled against the Obama Administration’s latest illegal federal overreach”, Paxton said in a prepared statement.
O’Connor, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush and confirmed for the bench in 2007, past year put on hold a federal rule granting Family and Medical Leave Act benefits to same-sex couples after Texas filed a lawsuit. They said they were at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal funding for education if they did not comply.
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The other states involved are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
