U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. ruled in an order Friday for the 20 state attorneys general who sued last August alleging that the Biden administration’s directives violate states’ right to enact laws that, for example, prevent students from participating in sports based on gender identity or requiring schools and businesses to provide bathrooms and showers to accommodate transgender people. Atchley, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020, agreed with the attorneys general’s argument and issued a temporary order preventing agencies from implementing those LGBTQ discrimination guidelines until the issue is resolved by the courts. “As demonstrated above, the harm claimed by Plaintiff States has already occurred—their sovereign authority to enforce their own legal code is impeded by Defendants’ issuance of the directives, and they face significant pressure to change their state laws as a result.” wrote Atchley. . Story continues below ad Attorneys general are from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia. Trending Stories

			Former NASCAR driver Bobby East dies at 37 after stabbing at gas station 	   				COVID cases soar in Canada’s LTC homes as country enters 7th wave.  What can be done?

The guidance on discrimination based on sexual orientation was issued by the US Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June following a landmark civil rights decision by the US Supreme Court in 2020 that, under a provision called Title VII, protects gays, lesbians and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace. Education Department guidance from June 2021 stated that discrimination based on a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity would be treated as a violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal law protecting gender discrimination in education. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released guidelines that month on what could constitute discrimination against LGBTQ people and informed the public about how to file a complaint. Under her guidance, the Biden administration has partially taken a stand against laws and proposals in a growing number of states that aim to ban transgender girls from participating in women’s sports teams. State attorneys general argue that authority over such policies “properly belongs to Congress, the States, and the people.” The education policy brought the possibility of federal sanctions against schools and colleges that fail to protect gay and transgender students. Story continues below ad The attorneys general argued that delaying a legal review of the guidelines would “cause them significant hardship, as defendants could use ‘fear of future sanctions’ to compel ‘immediate compliance’ with the challenged guidance,” Atchley wrote. “The Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown a credible threat of law enforcement,” Atchley wrote. “Plaintiffs emphasize that private litigants rely on defendants’ guidance to challenge plaintiffs’ state laws.” Atchley noted that the U.S. Department of Education has filed a statement of interest in a lawsuit in West Virginia, taking the position that Title IX prohibits the state from excluding transgender girls from participating in single-sex sports restricted to girls. © 2022 The Canadian Press