12 states file brief in favour of Obama Administration’s guidance on trans bathrooms
A dozen states have filed a brief in favour of the Obama Administration’s historic guidance on bathrooms for transgender students.
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, DC have joined an amicus brief which supports trans students.
It will be filed today in US District Court in Texas.
The brief was filed in support of actions taken by the Obama Administration in May, advising that schools should provide gender-appropriate bathroom facilities for transgender students.
The Obama administration intervened on LGBT rights after a string of laws attempted to roll back LGBT discrimination protections, purportedly to stop trans people from going to the bathroom.
The federal government wrote to every school in the US to advise them that they are obliged not to discriminate against trans people.
However, that hasn’t gone down well with hard-right Republicans – with GOP politicians in Oklahoma attempting to impeach Obama.
Back in May, Texas and ten other states sued the Obama Administration following the ruling, in an attempt to block the historic guidance.
The US Justice Department sued the state of North Carolina earlier this year, asking a federal court to rule that the state’s anti-trans HB2 law violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Department said the state should stop enforcing HB2.
The Attorney General Loretta Lynch also threatened to withhold federal funding to the University of North Carolina system, which could be as much as $4.8 billion.
In response, Governor McCrory filed his own desperate lawsuit against the federal government.
In it, he named Ms Lynch, the head of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta and the Justice Department.
“We’re taking the Obama admin to court,” he wrote.
“They’re bypassing Congress, attempting to rewrite law & policies for the whole country, not just NC.
“Our lawsuit seeks to ensure that NC continues to receive federal funding until the courts clarify federal law & resolve this national issue.”
“These leaders are showing the nation what it means to stand up for all students, ensuring that our transgender youth are affirmed and respected in one of the places they should feel most safe – their schools,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC Legal Director. “No student should have to live in fear of being who they are, and we thank the tireless advocates working to guarantee a future full of opportunity for all young people.”
