Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
A coalition of states, led by Texas, asked a federal court to halt the Obama administration’s directive that would allow men and boys pretending to be women and girls into their restrooms and other intimate facilities.
A court temporarily granted the coalition’s request on Sunday. From USA Today (emphasis added):
The Texas ruling, issued late Sunday, turned on the congressional intent behind Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which requires that “facilities provided for students of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for students of the other sex.”
“It cannot be disputed that the plain meaning of the term sex” in that law “meant the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth,” the judge wrote. “Without question, permitting educational institutions to provide separate housing to male and female students, and separate educational instruction concerning human sexuality, was to protect students’ personal privacy, or discussion of their personal privacy, while in the presence of members of the opposite biological sex.”
The judge also ruled that the guidance failed to follow the law requiring that it get input from the public before drafting new regulations, and suggested that the federal guidance could be implemented if the Department of Education conducts a more formal rule-making process.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that a girl pretending to be a boy would not be allowed to use the boys’ restroom at the start of the school year in Virginia.
The attorney general of Texas called the Obama administration’s edict “a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights.”
