Victory at the U.S. Supreme Court

Transgender, ,

Late yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision blocking a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling concerning school restroom policies.

As you may know, last spring the Obama Administration issued “guidelines” to public schools and colleges instructing them to let biological males who claim to be female use the girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, shower facilities, and so forth at school. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been underway back east, where a biologically female student who claims to be male has sued the school for access to the boys’ restrooms and locker rooms.

The school has insisted restroom and locker room facilities should remain separated based on students’ biological sex–not based on gender-identity. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered the school to let students use the restrooms and locker rooms of their choice rather than of their biological sex. Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that decision.

National Organization of Marriage (NOM) issued a statement, saying,

[T]he US Supreme Court has blocked a ruling of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals imposing a transgender bathroom policy by interpreting the term “sex” under Title IX of federal law to mean “gender identity.”

This is a big victory and protects students in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland and comes as students will be heading back to school soon. The ruling is a blow to the Obama administration which has been working overtime to impose the gender ideology of LGBT extremists.

The effect of the ruling is to leave intact a Virginia school district’s policy that intimate facilities such as restrooms, showers and locker rooms are segregated based on a student’s actual biologic sex, and not based on “gender identity” or other subjective feelings.

It is expected that the school district will file a motion with the Supreme Court to hear the underlying case this fall. NOM will urge the Supreme Court to rule that federal law enacted decades ago does not define “sex” to mean “gender identity” and that the Obama administration does not have the legal authority to impose their transgender bathroom policy on the nation’s schools.

While the decision does not directly impact Arkansas, it is a major victory that affects the tone of future court cases.

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Biological Male Arrested for Photographing Woman in Target Dressing Room

Transgender, ,

Target_Albemarle_Rd_Charlotte,_NC_(7579989322)News outlets in Idaho report a man who claims to be a transgender woman was arrested this week for allegedly photographing a woman in the dressing room at a Target store.

The Post Register writes,

Shauna Patricia Smith, 43, is in custody in the Bonneville County Jail under the name Sean Smith, according to the jail’s active inmate roster. A Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office news release said the suspect also is known as Sean P. Smith.

Sheriff’s deputies responded Monday to the store after a woman reported that someone was taking pictures of her while she was inside a dressing room trying on clothes, the release said. The victim noticed the subject reaching over the wall with a cellphone taking pictures. The victim confronted the suspect who then fled the store on foot, the release said.

Last April we expressed concerns Target’s new policy for restrooms and fitting rooms puts customers–particularly women and children–at risk by allowing people to use any facility or changing room they wish, regardless of biological sex.

Photo Credit: By Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Arkansas Sues Obama Admin. Over School Bathroom “Guidelines”

Transgender,

Joint_blog_close_PS-0774On May 13 the Obama Administration’s Education Department and Justice Department issued “guidelines” instructing public schools and most colleges and universities to let biological males who claim to be female use the women’s restrooms, locker rooms, showers, and similar facilities at school–and vice versa.

In response, today the State of Arkansas joined nine other states in suing the federal government for its overreach.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office writes,

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today, along with nine other states, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agencies and officials, which last month issued a directive requiring Arkansas public schools to open gender-specific bathrooms and locker rooms to both sexes. In addition to representing the State of Arkansas, Rutledge is also representing the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services. The federal government’s new directive threatens the common sense policies of the Division and the important funds supporting the Division’s work.

“The Obama Administration is using intimidation tactics in an attempt to force local schools to adopt a radical social policy that raises serious safety concerns for school-age children,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “From a young age, children are taught not to be bullies, yet that is exactly what the federal government is doing by threatening the loss of funding if schools do not comply with this directive – a directive that unlawfully ignores the role of Congress. This proposal, which is part of a liberal social agenda, will disrupt the learning environment and be a detriment to the very children it intends to help, which is why today’s action is in the best interest of our students.”

The Obama Administration is attempting to rewrite Congress’s use of the term “sex” in federal law to mean “gender identity.” Current state law and federal regulations allow schools to maintain separate facilities based upon sex. The recent action by the Administration circumvents this established law by ignoring the appropriate legislative process necessary to change it. It also supersedes local school districts’ authority to address student issues on an individualized, professional and private basis.

In addition to Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming have joined today’s filing by Nebraska.

You can read about the Obama Administration’s recent actions that prompted this lawsuit here and here.

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