Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has
advised school districts to ignore federal guidance on transgender
bathroom use.
In May, the Obama administration issued
a directive advising schools to allow transgender students to use the
bathroom of their choice.
Within days, a number of states led by
Texas filed a federal lawsuit to block the government's rules from
taking effect, arguing that transgender individuals are not protected
under Title IX as maintained by the administration.
Last week, a federal judge sided with
the states.
(Related: Federal
judge temporarily blocks Obama's transgender bathroom policy.)
“My office brought this lawsuit to
stop the defendants from rewriting the laws that have been enacted by
the elected representatives of the people – and to stop the
defendants from threatening to take away federal funding from schools
to force them to conform,” Paxton
wrote in a three-page memo to educational institutions. “The
injunction granted does precisely that.”
Texas is also leading in a lawsuit
challenging federal rules that prohibit doctors from discriminating
against transgender patients.
(Related: Texas
lawsuit seeks to deny healthcare to transgender patients.)