Federal judge, siding with Texas, blocks Obama's rules on bathrooms for transgender students
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Fort Worth, in issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction, said that federal officials didn't follow proper procedures in creating the directives.
He said the guidelines contradicted existing statutes and regulatory texts.
And he appeared to agree with Texas' assertion that the guidelines "hold a gun to the head" of local school districts.
"The information before the court demonstrates defendants have 'drawn a line in the sand' in that they have concluded plaintiffs must abide by the guidelines, without exception, or they are in breach of their ... obligations," he wrote in a 38-page order.
The decision is a blow for the Obama administration, which had said that schools should allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.
Federal officials had defended their interpretation that the word "sex" in anti-discrimination statutes also covers "gender identity."
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Attorneys representing Texas, however, said the guidelines would force school districts "to mix the sexes in intimate areas."
They said the federal policies "obliterate" past rules, putting Texas and other states at risk of losing millions of dollars in education funding.
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