U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor has temporarily blocked the Obama administration’s public school ordinance granting transgender students the right to use whichever bathroom in which they feel comfortable. Over a dozen states sued the White House for what they say is a dangerous social justice agenda that could place their children at risk.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is among those applauding O’Connor’s ruling.
"This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threating to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform," Paxton said. "That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts."
In his decision, O'Connor argued that Title IX is pretty clear that one's sex is defined as "the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth." Furthermore, the judge said local school districts should be granted the opportunity to debate the federal mandate among themselves before they are forced to comply.
In Washington, conservative congressional legislators like Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), who called Obama’s bathroom mandate a “senseless decree” in a new statement on Monday, are taking steps to protect students’ safety. Black is a cosponsor of Prohibiting the Usurpation of Bathroom Laws through Independent Choice School Act (PUBLIC School Act) of 2016, which protects state and local governments’ right to enforce gender specific bathrooms in public schools.