[News] [TX, USA] ACLU calls foul on Paxton's transgender bathroom guidelines
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Stephanie Stevens
Aug 27, 2016, 8:56:53 AM8/27/16
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Houston Chronicle, TX, USA
ACLU calls foul on Paxton's transgender bathroom guidelines
By Andrea Zelinski
Updated 4:16 pm, Friday, August 26, 2016
AUSTIN -- Texas' attorney general gave public schools the official OK to disregard federal instructions to cater their bathroom policies to transgender students, a move the ACLU of Texas argues is misleading.
Attorney General Ken Paxton told Texas school district leaders in his own "guidance letter" Thursday that they have no obligation to change their policies related to which bathrooms transgender students are permitted to use. The letter follows his office's win in federal court to temporarily block the federal government from withholding funds from schools that fail to accommodate the gender identities of students.
Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, called the letter an attempt to mislead school districts.
"School districts in Texas that already have inclusive policies to protect their transgender students are free to enforce them. Schools districts considering such policies are free to adopt them. And parents and students who want to challenge how their schools treat transgender kids are free to advocate — and to bring suit if necessary," said Robertson in a statement.
The central challenge of the federal lawsuit involving a dozen other states is yet to be resolved, namely whether decades-old federal statutes outlawing sex discrimination in public life apply to transgender students in schools. Instead, a Fort Worth federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Obama administration's directive to schools, saying it conflicted with other rules and because the feds failed to comply with rules about public comment and notice.
"My office brought this lawsuit to stop the Obama Administration from rewriting the laws that have been enacted by the elected representatives of the people — and to stop his administrative agencies from threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. The injunction granted does precisely that," Paxton said in a statement.
Paxton's letter instructs school district officials that they can disregard the the federal government guidelines and federal officials will have no legal ramification to withhold tax money from school districts as a consequence.
Any school districts wishing to implement their own guidelines must do so through the locally elected school board and must allow parents to review records regarding their child, such as records disclosing the student's preferred gender, Paxton's guidance letter said.
Legislators have all but promised they will revisit what bathrooms transgender students should use in public schools during the 2017 legislative session.
The ACLU of Texas put out its own letter to school superintendents Friday in response to Paxton's letter of guidance, stressing that school districts are required "to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including transgender students," read the letter.
The crux of the issue rests with Title IX which states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
The ACLU argues this requirement has been interpreted by schools and the court to include gender identity, citing a ruling this April from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a transgender high school boy to sue his school district for banning him from using the boys' bathroom.
"Attorney General Paxton's suggestion that your school district is now 'protected' and may therefore discriminate against transgender students with impunity is a gross misstatement of the Order and the law," read the letter.
© Copyright 2016 Hearst Newspapers, LLC
http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/ACLU-calls-foul-on-Paxton-s-transgender-bathroom-9186334.php
ACLU calls foul on Paxton's transgender bathroom guidelines
By Andrea Zelinski
Updated 4:16 pm, Friday, August 26, 2016
AUSTIN -- Texas' attorney general gave public schools the official OK to disregard federal instructions to cater their bathroom policies to transgender students, a move the ACLU of Texas argues is misleading.
Attorney General Ken Paxton told Texas school district leaders in his own "guidance letter" Thursday that they have no obligation to change their policies related to which bathrooms transgender students are permitted to use. The letter follows his office's win in federal court to temporarily block the federal government from withholding funds from schools that fail to accommodate the gender identities of students.
Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, called the letter an attempt to mislead school districts.
"School districts in Texas that already have inclusive policies to protect their transgender students are free to enforce them. Schools districts considering such policies are free to adopt them. And parents and students who want to challenge how their schools treat transgender kids are free to advocate — and to bring suit if necessary," said Robertson in a statement.
The central challenge of the federal lawsuit involving a dozen other states is yet to be resolved, namely whether decades-old federal statutes outlawing sex discrimination in public life apply to transgender students in schools. Instead, a Fort Worth federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Obama administration's directive to schools, saying it conflicted with other rules and because the feds failed to comply with rules about public comment and notice.
"My office brought this lawsuit to stop the Obama Administration from rewriting the laws that have been enacted by the elected representatives of the people — and to stop his administrative agencies from threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. The injunction granted does precisely that," Paxton said in a statement.
Paxton's letter instructs school district officials that they can disregard the the federal government guidelines and federal officials will have no legal ramification to withhold tax money from school districts as a consequence.
Any school districts wishing to implement their own guidelines must do so through the locally elected school board and must allow parents to review records regarding their child, such as records disclosing the student's preferred gender, Paxton's guidance letter said.
Legislators have all but promised they will revisit what bathrooms transgender students should use in public schools during the 2017 legislative session.
The ACLU of Texas put out its own letter to school superintendents Friday in response to Paxton's letter of guidance, stressing that school districts are required "to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including transgender students," read the letter.
The crux of the issue rests with Title IX which states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
The ACLU argues this requirement has been interpreted by schools and the court to include gender identity, citing a ruling this April from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a transgender high school boy to sue his school district for banning him from using the boys' bathroom.
"Attorney General Paxton's suggestion that your school district is now 'protected' and may therefore discriminate against transgender students with impunity is a gross misstatement of the Order and the law," read the letter.
© Copyright 2016 Hearst Newspapers, LLC
http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/ACLU-calls-foul-on-Paxton-s-transgender-bathroom-9186334.php
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