A U.S. judge
blocked Obama administration guidance that transgender public school students
must be allowed to use bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide
injunction sought by a group of 13 states led by Texas.
Reed O'Connor,
a judge for the Northern District of Texas, said in a decision late on Sunday
that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures for notice and
comment in issuing the guidelines. He said the guidelines contradict with
existing legislative and regulatory texts.
O'Connor, an
appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said the guidelines from the
defendants, which included the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, were
legislative and substantive.
"Although
Defendants have characterized the Guidelines as interpretive, post-guidance
events and their actual legal effect prove that they are 'compulsory in
nature,'" he wrote.
The office of
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who frequently sues the
Democratic Obama administration, said he was pleased with a decision against
"illegal federal overreach."
At a hearing
on the injunction in Fort Worth on Aug. 12, lawyers for Texas said the
guidelines usurp the authority of school districts nationwide. They said they
were at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal funding for education if
they did not comply.
U.S.
Department of Justice lawyers sought to dismiss the injunction, saying the
federal guidelines issued in May were non-binding with no legal consequences.
The guidance
issued by the Justice Department and Education Department said public schools
must allow transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and other
intimate facilities that correspond with their gender identity, as opposed to
their birth gender, or face the loss of federal funds.
Under the
injunction, the Obama administration is prohibited from enforcing the
guidelines on "against plaintiffs and their respective schools, school
boards, and other public, educationally based institutions," O'Connor
wrote.
Following
milestone achievements in gay rights including same-sex marriage becoming legal
nationwide in 2015, transgender rights have become an increasingly contentious
issue in the United States. The use of public bathrooms has been a key element
in the controversy.
The
administration's directive enraged conservatives who say federal civil rights
protections encompass biological sex, not gender identity.
The other
states in the Texas-led suit are Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee,
Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky.
Ten other states have also separately sued over the guidelines.
Source: Reuters
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