Transgender rights opponents sue federal agencies over equality rules
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Officials from 11 states have filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration in response to its position in favor of civil rights for transgender individuals.
“Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process and running roughshod over consensus policies protecting children and basic privacy rights, says the lawsuit, State of Texas et al. v. United States of America. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita Falls, Texas on Wednesday,
The lawsuit is in response to statements by the Obama Administration, including guidance issued on May 13 by the Department of Education, and Justice Department that calls for transgender students to be able to use restrooms “consistent with their gender identity.”
It seeks a ruling that the guidance and interpretations issued by the administration with respect to transgender people are unconstitutional and “arbitrary and capricious,” and a permanent injunction preventing implementation of any rules or guidance, among other claims for relief.
In addition to Texas, plaintiffs in the suit include the states of Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia; school districts in Texas and Arizona and the governor of Maine, Paul LePage.
Additional defendants in the suit are the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and principal deputy assistant attorney general Vanita Gupta; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its chair, Jenny R. Yang, the U.S. Department of Labor and Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, and David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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