A federal judge has blocked the Obama administration from enforcing guidelines for transgender students attending public schools, and doing what everyone need to do—using the restrooms. Texas and 13 other states sued to block the guidelines.
“These new mandates, putting the federal government in the unprecedented position of policing public school property and facilities ... run roughshod over clear lines of authority, local policies, and unambiguous federal law,” the states said in a July motion seeking a nationwide injunction against the federal guidance.
The ruling agreeing to the injunction, by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, is meant to ease fears that the guidance would disrupt the coming school year in Texas, which is set to kick off Aug. 22.
At issue is the inclusion of transgender students in Title IX education protections. The states, including North Carolina, "have argued that this interpretation goes beyond what the law says, presenting them with a “Hobson’s choice” between compliance or risking losing millions in federal funding."
“The Joint Letter is an unlawful attempt to rewrite the terms attached to Title IX monies,” wrote the attorneys general for the states in their July motion. “Because Congress did not provide clear notice that funds subject to Title IX were linked to an ‘all comers’ restroom and intimate areas policy — and in fact allowed separate-sex facilities — the Joint Letter is unconstitutional.”
Texas actually went out looking for this fight. The Texas Tribune reported back in May that Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) went out looking for a Texas school district that would adopt an anti-transgender bathroom policy and then sue to protect it. The other states suing with Texas are Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky. A second case to block the guidance, led by Nebraska, Michigan, and Ohio, is still pending.