Trump officials will battle AGAINST trans equality at the Supreme Court
Sean Spicer (Getty)
The Trump administration may battle against trans equality at the Supreme Court, the President’s Press Secretary has said.
This week the Trump administration reversed a policy put in place by the Obama administration that extended civil rights education laws to cover transgender children.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer faced a string of questions today in the wake of the policy shift – and the official confirmed the administration will likely battle against federal trans rights protections in any future Supreme Court cass.
A journalist asked: “The administration not only rescinded it, but sent a letter to the Supreme Court informing them about the change as they consider a related case. Does the termination of the guidance present an administration position on the way the Supreme Court should rule?”
Mr Spicer said: “Well, obviously (…) removing the guidance clearly does.”
Criticising the Obama administration for extending the protections in the first place, he confirmed: “The guidance [the administration] puts forward obviously sends a signal to the Court on where the administration stands on this issue.”
The official also reaffirmed that the President supports the rights of individual states and school districts to maintain anti-transgender policies.
He said: “[It] is up to states and schools within a particular district to address how they want to accommodate that, and not sort of be prescriptive from Washington. That’s what the President believes.”
The news will be a fresh blow to LGBT activists ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing on anti-discrimination protections.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the case of Virginian trans teen Gavin Grimm, whose school ordered him to use a toilet that correspond with his “biological gender”.
Grimm is suing the Gloucester County School Board with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the policy violated his right to freedom from discrimination.
His case is set to be taken up by the Supreme Court, and is expected to set precedent on legal protections for trans people.
It is now a ‘must-win’ for activists hoping to preserve protections for trans people, given the opposition to trans rights in the Republican-controlled Congress.
The ACLU explained of his case: “We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will agree that excluding transgender students from using the common restrooms used by everyone else is sex discrimination and that it’s wrong.
“Gavin’s case, and the so-called restroom debates more broadly, are about much more than just restrooms.
“This is a chance for the country to get to know our transgender family, friends, colleagues, and community members. This case will put Gavin’s story before the public and the justices who will be deciding what equality for transgender people means.
“What should become clear is that restroom restrictions bar transgender people from full participation in public life by making it challenging or even impossible to go to work, to school, to the movies, or a restaurant. And that letting transgender people use the restroom doesn’t intrude on anyone else’s privacy or safety. Gavin — and so many other transgender people all across the country — are living proof of that reality.
“Now that the court has accepted this case, the restroom issue, which has been percolating in national discussions for years, has a face: Gavin Grimm.
“We are so grateful to Gavin for the strength he has shown in standing up for himself and others as well as for the bravery of transgender people all across the country who are fighting to ensure that the type of dehumanizing treatment that Gavin endured doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
