Southern states can't block protections for transgender students, judge rules

A federal judge in Alabama ruled four states can’t refuse to enforce Biden administration rules protecting LGBTQ+ students, including trans students, from discrimination.

“Plaintiffs must, among other things, establish a substantial likelihood of success on the claims advanced in their complaint to obtain a preliminary injunction from this court. They failed to sustain that burden,” wrote U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon in an order.

Attorneys general in more than 20 Republican-controlled states have challenged Education Secretary Miguel Cardona over a Biden administration interpretation of Title IX, the section of the Education Amendments of 1972 that bans sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs.

A Department of Education rule issued in April guarantees transgender students’ ability to use restroom and changing facilities corresponding to their gender identity, and would also require schools to respect students’ preferred pronouns.

Axon, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote that officials in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina cannot block enforcement of the rule while the legal challenge works its way through court.

She noted a total of 26 states have similarly challenged the rule, while 15 other states have filed amicus briefs defending the administration rule.

Other judges across the country have blocked enforcement of the rule. At this point, 21 states are blocking enforcement while the four impacted by the Axon ruling cannot, according to a tally kept by Reuters. The case seems bound for debate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Axon noted the U.S. Supreme Court already ruled transgender individuals enjoy protection from sex discrimination, in a 6-3 decision written in 2020 by Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first appointment to the court. In Bostock v. Clayton County, the court said Title VII of the Constitution bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The same year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit based on that decision said Florida could not deny transgender student Drew Adams access to boys restrooms.

But the states argue the Biden administration is overstepping by redefining sex to include gender identity. But Axon noted a plaintiff in the Bostock case was transgender, undermining arguments by the states.