Dive Brief:

• A federal judge in Texas blocked the Obama administration’s directive that schools accommodate transgender students by allowing them to use the bathroom of their gender identity, rather than their biological gender.
• The Washington Post reports U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s opinion will prevent the Obama administration from opening any investigations through the Office of Civil Rights relating to transgender student bathroom use while a lawsuit brought by Texas and 11 other states proceeds through the courts.
• Advocacy organizations were quick to say the lone judge’s ruling does not remove the responsibilities schools face to protect students from discrimination based on their gender identity, and individuals remain free to file lawsuits against schools that do not.

Dive Insight:

The Obama administration issued guidance to the nation’s schools in May outlining its interpretation of anti-gender discrimination law Title IX. The joint letter from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice was in response to an increasing number of requests from school officials, teachers and parents about civil rights protections for transgender students. It said that Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination in educational programs and activities operating with federal funds extends to discrimination based on a student’s gender identity. It specifically enumerated the responsibilities of schools relating to restroom and locker room use, athletics, single-sex classes and schools, and housing and overnight accommodations.

Nearly two dozen states have joined lawsuits against the Obama administration since then, and most legal analysts say the issue is sure to end up being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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