AUSTIN, Texas — In Federal Court on Friday, Alabama and eleven other states asked a judge to stop an order from the Obama Administration directing public schools to create transgender bathrooms. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor did not make an immediate ruling, but one is expected to be released soon.
However, many legal experts are giving Alabama a high chance at success with their lawsuit – at least for the immediate future. Just last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can temporarily block a transgender male from using the boys’ restroom until the issue is completely resolved by the legal system.
Despite not having an official ruling yet, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange reiterated that he believes local schools should disregard President Barack Obama’s transgender bathroom order until a court finally settles the issue.
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In filing the lawsuit, the State of Alabama included an affidavit from the Alabama Department of Education detailing the extensive federal funds at risk because of the “illegal order” and the impact the loss of such funds would have on Alabama school children.
“On May 26, I wrote a letter to the State Board of Education advising Alabama educators to ignore the May 13 federal guidance letter which attempts to change the law by redefining a student’s sex in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to mean ‘gender identity,’” Attorney General Strange told Yellowhammer in a statement. “I continue to stand behind my advice to state schools not to follow the Obama administration’s transgender guidance until the issue is settled in federal court… We hope to receive a decision soon.”
Four Alabama congressmen have also signed on to a letter demanding President Barack Obama walk back his effort to coerce all public schools around the country to offer gender-neutral bathrooms.
The decision, which the administration claims “gives administrators, teachers, and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies,” will affect all of Alabama’s 1,637 public schools that service almost 745,000 children.
