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A federal judge has blocked a directive from President Joe Biden’s administration that allowed transgender workers and students to use school restrooms that match their gender identities.
It also allowed transgender athletes to join sports teams corresponding to the chosen genre.
The directive was blocked by Judge Charles Atchley Jr. of Tennessee’s eastern district, one appointed by Trump, after a coalition of 20 Republican attorneys general sued last year, Reuters reported.
Inclusive public bathroom sign. Gender-free and disabled toilet (Istock / AndreyPopov)
Plaintiffs argued that the federal directive clashed with state laws and prevented states from enforcing their own laws prohibiting the use of transgender school restrooms.
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Judge Atchley agreed and said that in his view, states “cannot continue to regulate in accordance with their state laws and at the same time comply with the defendants’ guidelines,” Reuters reported.
States also argued that the Biden administration’s Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the defendants in the case – inadequately justified the bathroom directive through the Biden administration. U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock against Clayton County.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 16: President Joe Biden leaves Marine One on the south lawn of the White House on July 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
In the case, Clayton County fired county employee Gerald Bostock for “inappropriate” behavior after participating in a recreational gay softball league. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that sex discrimination in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should be extended to sexual orientation and gender identity.
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The high court said in its ruling that they were not deciding whether “sex-separated bathrooms, changing rooms and dress codes violate Title VII.”
In 2021, after President Biden was sworn in and appointed a new leadership, the Department of Education issued guidelines to implement the 2020 case in schools.
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The department suggested the court’s decision should apply to sex-separated restrooms, but Judge Atchley disagreed.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 18: Eastern Tennessee Assistant District Attorney Charles Atchley Jr. he testified during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate office building on Capitol Hill on November 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
The Bostock Supreme Court “explicitly refused to decide whether ‘sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms and dress codes’ violate Title VII,” the judge said in his opinion, Reuters reported.
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Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, who was among the plaintiffs, described the decision as “an important victory for women’s sports and for the privacy and safety of girls and women in bathrooms and toilets.” school locker rooms, ”according to the report.