Court reaffirms rights of local schools to protect student privacy in locker rooms

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Matt Sharp regarding a federal district court’s limited nationwide order Tuesday in State of Texas v. United States of America that reaffirms his previous order prohibiting the Obama administration from forcing public schools to allow boys into girls’ locker rooms, showers, and restrooms while the lawsuit of several states moves forward. The court found that both Title IX and Title VII rely on the consistent, uniform application of national standards in education and workplace policy. Because the May 2016 Dear Colleague Letter from the Obama administration that redefined “sex” under Title IX to include gender identity impacted every public school and university, a nationwide injunction was needed to prevent harm to children in other parts of the country.

“The Obama Administration cannot hold hostage the privacy rights and dignity interests of boys and girls across America. The federal court’s affirmation of its previous order halting the Obama Administration’s unlawful threats against schools across the nation preserves the authority of local schools to act in the best interest of their students and not out of fear of being stripped of their federal funding. The court made clear that the Obama Administration’ unlawful actions put children at risk and that it cannot unilaterally disregard and redefine federal law to accomplish its political agenda of forcing girls to share locker rooms and showers with boys. Schools have a duty to protect the privacy, safety, and dignity of all students, and this order ensures that they may continue to fulfill that duty.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

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