A lawsuit filed last year by more than a dozen Republican governors challenged the Obama-era order allowing transgender students to use gender-consistent bathrooms and locker rooms. (Photo: Nikita Gavrilovs/flickr/cc)
Feb 13, 2017
President Donald Trump has dropped a pending legal challenge against an injunction that bans transgender students from using school facilities that correspond to their gender identity, ending an effort mounted by the Obama administration to protect LGBTQ youth.
The move was announced Friday, coming amid other signals that Republican-led states are seeking to dismantle recent gains for LGBTQ rights.
"This is a callous attack on hundreds of thousands of students who simply want to be their true selves and be treated with dignity while they work to get an education, just like every other student," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, which launched a resource center for impacted families in the wake of Trump's election, said in a statement. "Transgender students thrive when treated equally, but too often, they are not."
Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) held that Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, protects the rights of transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
A lawsuit filed last year by more than a dozen Republican governors challenged the order, bolstered by an injunction handed down in August by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas, who wrote that allowing transgender students to use gender-consistent facilities threatens the privacy of their peers. The injunction applied nationwide.
The Obama administration had planned to challenge O'Connor's ruling, asking that it apply only to the 13 states that filed the lawsuit, with oral arguments scheduled for this year. But under new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose hard-right policies stirred widespread outcry from civil rights groups after his confirmation late Wednesday, the department swiftly dropped the effort.
Chad Griffin, president of the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said Friday, "After being on the job for less than 48 hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his intent to undermine the equal dignity of transgender students."
"Transgender students are entitled to the full protection of the United States Constitution and our federal nondiscrimination laws. It is heartbreaking and wrong that the agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws would instead work to subvert them for political interests. President Trump must immediately reverse course and direct the DOJ to uphold guidance protecting transgender students," Griffin said.
Keisling continued, "The Trump administration's action--yet another in an already long line of attacks on civil rights--is sure to empower bullies. But it does not change the fact that federal law protects transgender students. It will not change the fact that the nation's education leaders and more and more schools in every part of the country are supporting them. Transgender students are not going away, and it remains the legal and moral duty of schools to support all students."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
President Donald Trump has dropped a pending legal challenge against an injunction that bans transgender students from using school facilities that correspond to their gender identity, ending an effort mounted by the Obama administration to protect LGBTQ youth.
The move was announced Friday, coming amid other signals that Republican-led states are seeking to dismantle recent gains for LGBTQ rights.
"This is a callous attack on hundreds of thousands of students who simply want to be their true selves and be treated with dignity while they work to get an education, just like every other student," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, which launched a resource center for impacted families in the wake of Trump's election, said in a statement. "Transgender students thrive when treated equally, but too often, they are not."
Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) held that Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, protects the rights of transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
A lawsuit filed last year by more than a dozen Republican governors challenged the order, bolstered by an injunction handed down in August by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas, who wrote that allowing transgender students to use gender-consistent facilities threatens the privacy of their peers. The injunction applied nationwide.
The Obama administration had planned to challenge O'Connor's ruling, asking that it apply only to the 13 states that filed the lawsuit, with oral arguments scheduled for this year. But under new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose hard-right policies stirred widespread outcry from civil rights groups after his confirmation late Wednesday, the department swiftly dropped the effort.
Chad Griffin, president of the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said Friday, "After being on the job for less than 48 hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his intent to undermine the equal dignity of transgender students."
"Transgender students are entitled to the full protection of the United States Constitution and our federal nondiscrimination laws. It is heartbreaking and wrong that the agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws would instead work to subvert them for political interests. President Trump must immediately reverse course and direct the DOJ to uphold guidance protecting transgender students," Griffin said.
Keisling continued, "The Trump administration's action--yet another in an already long line of attacks on civil rights--is sure to empower bullies. But it does not change the fact that federal law protects transgender students. It will not change the fact that the nation's education leaders and more and more schools in every part of the country are supporting them. Transgender students are not going away, and it remains the legal and moral duty of schools to support all students."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
President Donald Trump has dropped a pending legal challenge against an injunction that bans transgender students from using school facilities that correspond to their gender identity, ending an effort mounted by the Obama administration to protect LGBTQ youth.
The move was announced Friday, coming amid other signals that Republican-led states are seeking to dismantle recent gains for LGBTQ rights.
"This is a callous attack on hundreds of thousands of students who simply want to be their true selves and be treated with dignity while they work to get an education, just like every other student," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, which launched a resource center for impacted families in the wake of Trump's election, said in a statement. "Transgender students thrive when treated equally, but too often, they are not."
Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) held that Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, protects the rights of transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
A lawsuit filed last year by more than a dozen Republican governors challenged the order, bolstered by an injunction handed down in August by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas, who wrote that allowing transgender students to use gender-consistent facilities threatens the privacy of their peers. The injunction applied nationwide.
The Obama administration had planned to challenge O'Connor's ruling, asking that it apply only to the 13 states that filed the lawsuit, with oral arguments scheduled for this year. But under new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose hard-right policies stirred widespread outcry from civil rights groups after his confirmation late Wednesday, the department swiftly dropped the effort.
Chad Griffin, president of the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said Friday, "After being on the job for less than 48 hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his intent to undermine the equal dignity of transgender students."
"Transgender students are entitled to the full protection of the United States Constitution and our federal nondiscrimination laws. It is heartbreaking and wrong that the agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws would instead work to subvert them for political interests. President Trump must immediately reverse course and direct the DOJ to uphold guidance protecting transgender students," Griffin said.
Keisling continued, "The Trump administration's action--yet another in an already long line of attacks on civil rights--is sure to empower bullies. But it does not change the fact that federal law protects transgender students. It will not change the fact that the nation's education leaders and more and more schools in every part of the country are supporting them. Transgender students are not going away, and it remains the legal and moral duty of schools to support all students."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.