ACLU: Stop the political stunts that harm transgender people

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

The American Civil Liberties Union has one message to nine states and all others suing the Obama administration: Stop the political stunts that harm transgender people.

Wednesday's news that nine states, the governor of Maine and the Arizona Department of Education have announced legal action against the Obama administration in response to the release of guidance on how schools treat transgender students inspired this memorandum.

This is not the first, nor the last, instance of political harm on transgender Americans. In a memo released by the ACLU, a situation is relayed wherein transgender students are seeking to intervene in a lawsuit against the federal government and District 211.

“Student A, the young woman at the center of a very public debate in suburban Chicago about use of locker room facilities for students who are transgender, yesterday joined with her parents, two other families with students who are transgender in District 211 and a statewide group that works with LGBT youth to file a motion with the federal district court in Chicago to join the lawsuit filed by two anti-LGBT rights groups in early May....

“The lawsuit seeks to block Student A, as well as other students who are transgender in District 211, from using bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity,” the press release reads. “The lawsuit also seeks to block the federal government – though the Department of Justice and the Department of Education – from interpreting Title IX to ensure fair and humane treatment of transgender students.”

“’These students do not pose a threat simply because they use the bathroom and locker room that matches their identity,’” said the Mother of Student A in joining the interveners. “’However, if our daughter is forced into the boys’ locker room, she and the boys she is forced to change with will experience real emotion trauma.’”

ACLU Legislative Representative Ian Thompson shed light on a related subject – North Carolina’s House Bill 2. "It is deeply disappointing that the House has adopted this amendment that is nothing more than a naked attempt to prevent the federal government from acting to enforce our nation's civil rights laws.

“It is designed to provide North Carolina with a get-out-of-jail-free card to violate federal civil rights laws that protect transgender people and face no financial consequence for doing so.” 

James Esseks, Director of the ACLU LGBT Project called this move "a political stunt," and “an attack on transgender Americans, plain and simple."

Thompson followed up this thought, saying, ““This is an attack on the very foundation of a half century of federal civil rights protections."

As for further state legislation, more attacks are coming in waves – starting with Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Kansas.

Last week, Oklahoma lawmakers introduced an anti-transgender bill, SB 1619, which would allow students to claim a religious objection to sharing restrooms or locker rooms with their transgender classmates, in some cases, forcing schools to construct new facilities for students with religious objections. 

The bill passed through a committee in the House, but was killed by the Senate earlier this week.  Attempts to revive the bill have since failed. 

Lawmakers are instead turning to pass an anti-transgender resolution that supports the Oklahoma Attorney General's lawsuit against the Obama administration and suggests schools may opt out of the Department of Education's guidance on how to treat transgender students. 

This resolution has passed through the House, and may be taken up by the Senate later this week.

While many states consider harmful measures that target the trans community, the Massachusetts House is set to vote to secure explicit protections for transgender people in public places on June 1.

The Senate version of the bill passed on May 12 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

On what is scheduled as ceremonial end of session day for the state legislature, Kansas lawmakers are planning to debate  the merits of a resolution condemning the federal guidance about Title IX and protections for transgender students.

"It's astonishing that lawmakers haven't yet realized that peddling these discriminatory measures is harmful for everyone - their constituents, business and the economy, and their own political careers,” said Chase Strangio, ACLU Staff Attorney.

“It is time for those who claim to represent us to stop making transgender people the punching bag. They should instead use this opportunity to learn about who transgender people are – our daughters, our neighbors, our doctors and teachers and waiters - and how we can learn from our differences."

Check out the ACLU bill-tracking page for more info.

The Gayly - 5/27/2016 @ 3:09 p.m. CDT