Trump Administration Rescinds Obama Rule On Transgender Students’ Bathroom Use
by Rebecca Hersher
February 22, 2017
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As NPR’s Scott Horsley reported for the Newscast unit, “The administration warned that schools that defied the recommendation could be at risk of losing federal funds. Thirteen states challenged the Obama guidelines and a Texas judge put them on hold.”
The administration said the directive was meant to help school districts avoid running afoul of civil rights laws, as we reported.
Under then-President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice sued the state of North Carolina over its so-called bathroom law, which prohibits municipal governments in the state from passing laws protecting the rights of transgender people. It also requires trans people in government facilities to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.
North Carolina has lost business over the law, including NCAA championship events that were scheduled to be held in the state.
State legislatures in New Hampshire, Colorado and Texas, among other states, have also considered bills that would restrict access to restrooms for transgender people.
On March 28, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Grimm case. As NPR’s Nina Totenberg has reported:
"Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old senior in Gloucester County … came out as transgender when he was a freshman in high school. The school principal allowed him to use the boys’ bathroom, until some parents complained, and the school board adopted a policy that required students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex, or a separate single-stall restroom office."
Grimm sued the school board, and in April the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit allowed the case to proceed. In August, the justices ruled 5-3 that the school board did not have to allow Grimm to use the restroom of his choice in the interim.
Justice Stephen Breyer said he voted to stay the lower court order as a “courtesy” to maintain the status quo while the court considered whether to hear the lawsuit, NPR’s Laura Wagner reported.
Wednesday’s documents say the Trump administration will “more completely consider the legal issues involved” in the Obama rules and in litigation “will not rely on the views expressed within them.”