Nationwide ban stays on Obama's transgender school bathroom policy

Jardine Malado Friday, October 21, 2016

A sign protesting a recent North Carolina law restricting transgender bathroom access is seen in the bathroom stalls at the 21C Museum Hotel in Durham, North Carolina May 3, 2016. | REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File photo

A Texas federal judge reaffirmed the nationwide injunction against the school bathroom policy which requires public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponds to their gender identity.

The Justice Department has requested earlier that the injunction should be limited to the 13 states that were opposed to the policy but U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor upheld the nationwide ban which was issued last August, Politico reports.

"It is clear from Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent that this Court has the power to issue a nationwide injunction where appropriate. Both Title IX and Title VII rely on the consistent, uniform application of national standards in education and workplace policy. A nationwide injunction is necessary because the alleged violation extends nationwide," O'Connor stated in his ruling.

O'Connor asserted that the ban would be ineffective if it only applied to the states that issued the complaint. He clarified that the decision only applies to "intimate facilities" and not to other transgender discrimination cases.

The judge has made a ruling on whether the order affects the enforcement of similar policies in the Labor Department and whether it also applies to bathrooms and lockers shared by students, teachers and other staff.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who represented the 13 states, acknowledged O'Connor's ruling.

"The court's reaffirmation of a nationwide injunction should send a clear message to the president that Texas won't sit idly by as he continues to ignore the Constitution," Paxton said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Education and other federal parties involved in the suit have indicated that they are appealing the injunction to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in New Orleans. It is considered as one of the most conservative circuit courts in the U.S.

Back in August, Paxton filed a lawsuit to block a federal health care policy that would prevent doctors, hospitals and insurers from discriminating against transgenders.