Feb 22, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump is expected to revoke the Obama administration’s lawless directive that sought to impose a so-called transgender or “bathroom” directive on public schools. The Obama directive would have forced schools to allow boys to uses the bathrooms and locker rooms with which they subjectively self-identify rather than their biological sex. Obama’s directive threatened school funding if schools did not comply.
According to a White House official, President Donald Trump believes the issue is for states to decide without the involvement of the federal government.
This reversal from the Trump administration could have an impact on pending court cases, including Lafferty v. Fairfax, where Liberty Counsel will be arguing before the Virginia Supreme Court next week involving a “transgender” teen who was denied bathroom access.
Texas Federal Judge Reed O’Connor blocked the Obama directive nationwide and denied requests from two federal executive branch departments to lift the ban on the Obama administration policy. Connor wrote that the federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of “sex” - the scope and meaning of which the federal government agencies claim now includes gender identity - were declared decades ago. He referred specifically to the time gap between the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and this year, when the Obama administration announced its new transgender bathroom guidelines for public schools.
“We applaud the Trump administration for taking a stand against the Obama administration attempts to impose its unlawful and harmful LGBT agenda on public schools,” said Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman. “The Obama directive is a lawless act and defies common sense. Allowing boys to use private facilities for girls violates the right to privacy and places girls at risk of sexual abuse,” said Staver.
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.