A judge in Tennessee has temporarily barred two federal agencies from implementing guidelines mandated by President Joe Biden’s administration that detail safety measures for LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces.
District Judge Charles Etchley Jr. ruled Friday in favor of 20 state attorneys general, who filed a suit in August 2021 alleging that the Biden administration’s directives violate states’ right to enforce laws, For example, prevent students from participating in sports based games. Require schools and businesses to provide toilets and showers based on their gender identity or to accommodate transgender people.
Achley, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020, agreed with the arguments of state attorneys and issued a temporary injunction preventing agencies from enforcing that guidance on LGBTQ discrimination until the matter was resolved by the courts. can.
“As shown above, the harm alleged by the plaintiff states is already being done: their sovereign power to enforce their own legal code is hampered by the issuance of guidance to the defendants, and as a result of substantial pressure to change them.” You have to face the laws of your state,” wrote Achilles.
Justice secretaries who filed suit included people from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. Huh. West Virginia.
The directives regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation were issued by the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June following a landmark 2020 Supreme Court civil rights decision that ruled gay, lesbian and transgender people under a provision called Title VII. protects people. discrimination in the workplace.
Education Department guidance from June 2021 said discrimination based on a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity would be considered a violation of Title IX, a 1972 federal law that protects sex discrimination in education.
With her guidance, the Biden administration has opposed a growing number of state laws and proposals that aim to ban transgender girls from participating in women’s sports teams. The state attorney general maintains that authority on such policies “properly pertains to Congress, the states, and the people.”
