ACLU: Anti-Transgender Lawsuit by Texas and Other Attorneys General Can’t Actually Even Happen

Civil Rights Group Calls Ken Paxton’s Lawsuit ‘A Political Stunt’

A lawsuit filed against the Obama administration over guidance issued to schools telling them to not discriminate against transgender students is invalid, according to the ACLU.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that one cannot sue an agency just because they disagree with the agency’s guidance,” the ACLU said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “If these attorneys general disagree with the agency’s interpretation of what the federal ban on sex discrimination means, they can make that argument to the court when it arises in a real case.”

The 96-year old civil rights group labeled the lawsuit “a political stunt.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with nine other states, a governor, and two school districts, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday morning against the Department of Justice and Department of Education after officials from both agencies sent a letter to every school district in the country explaining that transgender students must be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s LGBT Project called the Texas-based lawsuit “an attack… on transgender Americans, plain and simple,” noting that “the real targets here are vulnerable young people and adults who simply seek to live their lives free from discrimination when they go to school, work or the restroom.”

At his press conference, Paxton refused to answer if transgender children actually exist, would not state that they deserve protection, and did not know if transgender people commit sexual assaults at rates higher than non-trans people. He also would not say how many complaints he has received from parents, and admitted he met with zero parents of transgender students and zero transgender students before filing his lawsuit. 

The ACLU, however, noted that there “have been no disruptions, increases in public safety incidents, nor invasions of privacy related to protections for transgender people. The federal agencies named in this lawsuit have not changed existing obligations under the law. Our civil rights laws, including Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, have long prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, and federal courts and agencies have long recognized that this includes protections for transgender people.”

In short, as NCRM’s John Wright notes, Paxton’s case cannot be tried because the plaintiffs do not have standing:

Presumably, it will be thrown out.

 

EARLIER:

Texas Attorney General Refuses to Answer if He Believes Transgender Children Exist

10 States Including Texas in Lawsuit Suing Obama Administration Over Transgender Students’ Rights

Gov. Greg Abbott: Texas Is Suing Feds ‘To Stop Obama’s Transgender Directive’

 

Image via Wikimedia and Texas Statesman