Transgender Policy Reversed

Federal Judge Upholds Injunction Against Obama’s Transgender School Policy, "The president cannot rewrite the laws ..." by Scott Mason, 10/21/16

A federal judge has stopped President Obama’s policy forcing public schools to allow students claiming to be transgender into bathrooms that do not correspond with the gender on their birth certificates.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor rejected the Obama administration’s request to lift an injunction against the Department of Education’s transgender bathroom policy. The injunction was originally issued in August in response to a challenge to the policy by 13 state attorneys general.

The Justice Department requested the injunction be limited to the 13 states who objected, but this week O’Connor issued his ruling against that.

“It is clear from Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent that this Court has the power to issue a nationwide injunction where appropriate. Both Title IX and Title VII rely on the consistent, uniform application of national standards in education and workplace policy,” O’Connor said in his ruling. “A geographically-limited injunction would be ineffective.”

O’Connor’s ruling also suggested the idea of making students use the bathroom corresponding with their biological gender doesn’t fall under the definition of discrimination, saying the government should continue to address issues of discrimination on the basis of race, national origin or disability, but it cannot consider the definition of “sex” as it relates to gender identity for the use of bathrooms or changing facilities.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who represented one of the 13 states objecting to the Department of Education’s transgender policy, was happy with O’Connor’s decision.

“The court’s reaffirmation of a nationwide injunction should send a clear message to the president that Texas won’t sit idly by as he continues to ignore the Constitution,” Paxton wrote in a statement.

“The president cannot rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and then threaten to take away funding from schools to force them to fall in line.” The issue of transgender use of opposite sex restrooms has been a hot-button topic and the subject of much disagreement in the court system.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia ruled the Obama transgender school mandate was constitutional and issued an injunction allowing Caitlyn Grimm, a transgender girl who changed her name to Gavin, to use the boys’ facilities.

The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed that injunction. The Justice Department says it will appeal O’Connor’s decision to the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans.

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http://www.westernjournalism.com/federal-judge-upholds-injunction-against-obamas-transgender-school-policy/