Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

From today’s Washington Post:

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked enforcement of two Biden administration directives protecting LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces from discrimination, ruling in favor of 20 state attorneys general who claimed in a lawsuit that the guidance infringes upon states’ rights.

The move comes amid a wave of measures by conservatives to curtail LGBTQ rights that have alarmed liberal activists as the battle over transgender rights moves to the political forefront.

The two directives, which apply to educational institutions receiving federal funding and most employers, would have extended protections for transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in schools and at work and to join sports teams that correspond to their gender identity.

The states in question have argued that the directives would have put them at risk of losing significant federal funding because of their existing laws.

“Defendants’ guidance directly interferes with and threatens Plaintiff States’ ability to continue enforcing their state laws,” U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. of the Eastern District of Tennessee wrote in his ruling.

“Their sovereign power to enforce their own legal code is hampered by the issuance of Defendants’ guidance and they face substantial pressure to change their state laws as a result,” he added.

The administration’s guidance, issued by the Education Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), followed a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that said a civil rights provision called Title VII, which prohibits job discrimination because of sex, among other categories, includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Read the complete story here.

By Editor