US agencies temporarily barred from enforcing LBGTQ guidance

A judge in Tennessee has temporarily barred two federal agencies from enforcing directives issued by President Joe Bidens administration that extended protections for LGBTQ people in schools and workplacesUS District Judge Charles Atchley Jr in an order on Friday ruled for the 20 state attorneys general who sued last August claiming the Biden administration directives infringe on states right to enact laws that for example prevent students from participating in sports based on their gender identity or requiring schools and businesses to provide bathrooms and showers to accommodate transgender peopleAtchley appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2020 agreed with the attorneys generals argument and issued a temporary injunction that prevents the agencies from applying that guidance on LGBTQ discrimination until the matter can be resolved by courtsAs demonstrated above the harm alleged by Plaintiff States is already occurring their sovereign power to enforce their own legal code is hampered by the issuance of Defendants guidance and they face substantial pressure to change their state laws as a result Atchley wroteThe attorneys general are from Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Georgia Idaho Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee and West VirginiaThe directives regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation was issued by the US Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June following a landmark civil rights decision by the countrys Supreme Court in 2020 that under a provision called Title VII protects gay lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in the workplaceThe Department of Education guidance from June 2021 said discrimination based on a students sexual orientation or gender identity would be treated as a violation of Title IX the 1972 federal law that protects sex discrimination in educationThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released guidance that month about what could constitute discrimination against LGBTQ people and advised the public about how to file a complaintWith its guidance the Biden administration in part took a stand against laws and proposals in a growing number of states that aim to forbid transgender girls from participating on female sports teamsThe state attorneys general contend that the authority over such policies properly belongs to Congress the States and the peopleThe education policy carried the possibility of federal sanctions against schools and colleges that fail to protect gay and transgender studentsThe attorneys general argued that a delaying a legal review of the directives would cause them significant hardship as Defendants would be allowed to use the fear of future sanctions to force immediate compliance with the challenged guidance Atchley wroteThe Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown a credible threat of enforcement Atchley wrote Plaintiffs highlight that private litigants are relying on Defendants guidance to challenge Plaintiffs state lawsAtchley noted that the US Department of Education has filed a statement of interest in a West Virginia lawsuit taking a position that Title IX prohibits the state from excluding transgender girls from participating in singlesex sports restricted to girlsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever