Welp, Jeff Sessions did not waste any time. The DOJ announced last week they will no longer challenge the infamous “bathroom bills” blocking transgender students from using the facilities that align with their gender identity. From The New York Times:
The injunction was issued in August by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas as part of a lawsuit filed by more than a dozen states over the Obama administration’s position that Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination in schools, protects transgender students.
Under that interpretation, transgender students have access to facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity, a proposition to which social conservatives strongly object. They argue that allowing transgender students to use those facilities poses a threat to the privacy and safety of other students.
The Obama administration appealed the injunction and requested that it apply only to states involved in the lawsuit and not nationwide. Oral arguments in that case were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but on Friday, the Justice Department withdrew the previous administration’s challenge.
This comes weeks after a (brief) White House statement that literally began with “President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community.”
So much for that.