Court Blocks Obama Administration’s Transgender Bathroom Rules

A federal judge blocked President Barack Obama’s administration’s directive that would have forced public schools to comply with transgendered bathroom rules or else face restrictions on federal funding.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of Fort Worth, Texas, issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that said federal officials didn’t follow the proper procedures when handing down the guidelines, which he said also contradicted current statutes, reported the Dallas Morning News.

In May, the North Carolina legislature passed a law that prohibited transgender students from using the restroom of their choice in public schools. The Department of Justice then issued a directive that said such laws are considered sexual discrimination under federal law and if public schools that receive federal funds allow them, that money could be taken away.

North Carolina sued the DOJ, which then sued back, reported NPR, resulting in a nationwide legal fight over what restrooms people can or can’t use.

Officials from several other states, including Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Texas, also filed lawsuits against the federal government over the transgender bathroom directives, reported The New York Times.

And the ruling out of the federal court in Texas marks a victory for those challenging the feds over this contentious issue.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the decision and described the federal directive as the “latest illegal federal overreach” from the Obama administration.

“This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform,” Paxton said in a news release, according to The Dallas Morning News.

But LGBT rights activists insisted that the ruling was just a temporary setback, and more legal fights will result in different outcomes.

“One judge in a district court is simply a bump on the road,” said Paul Castillo, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, an LBGT rights group. “Any adverse decision on this is an outlier, based on other decisions that have been issued.” 

Sources: The Dallas Morning News, NPR, The New York Times / Photo credit: WLS