The Trump administration on Friday
withdrew its objections to an injunction that blocked government
guidance on allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of
their choice.
The move by the Department of Justice
comes on the second day of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' tenure at
the federal agency and signals a change in policy is likely in the
offing.
Eleven states joined Texas in
challenging last year's guidance by the Department of Education. The
Obama administration argued that prohibiting transgender students
from using the bathroom of their choice was a violation of sex
discrimination under Title IX.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor
issued a temporary injunction last year blocking the policy. The
Obama administration had asked an appeals court to limit the scope of
the injunction to those states challenging the guidance. The new
administration withdrew that request on Friday.
According to The Washington Post,
the brief, filed jointly by the Justice Department and the suing
states, asks the court to cancel arguments in the case scheduled for
Tuesday, saying that “the parties are currently considering how
best to proceed in this appeal.”
The court immediately granted the
request.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate,
criticized the move.
“After being on the job for less than
48 hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his intent to
undermine the equal dignity of transgender students,” Griffin said
in a statement. “Transgender students are entitled to the full
protection of the United States Constitution and our federal
nondiscrimination laws. It is heartbreaking and wrong that the agency
tasked with enforcing civil rights laws would instead work to subvert
them for political interests. President Trump must immediately
reverse course and direct the DOJ to uphold guidance protecting
transgender students.”