A federal judge in Tennessee has temporarily blocked a Biden administration directive allowing transgender workers and students to use bathrooms and join sports teams that match their gender identity.
The directive was blocked by Judge Charles Atchley Jr. of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Atchley, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, ruled in favor of 20 Republican state attorneys general who sued last August, reported Reuters.
The attorneys general argued that the directives would prevent states from enforcing their own laws about transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports or accessing bathrooms.
“As demonstrated above, the harm alleged by Plaintiff States is already occurring — their sovereign power to enforce their own legal code is hampered by the issuance of Defendants’ guidance and they face substantial pressure to change their state laws as a result,” Atchley wrote in his decision.
He also said the states “cannot continue regulating pursuant to their state laws while simultaneously complying with Defendants’ guidance”.
The attorneys general claimed that the Biden administration’s directives improperly expanded a 2020 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that workplace sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should extend to sexual orientation and gender identity, reported Fox News.
The judges did not decide whether the ruling applied to sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms.
In 2021, the Department of Education applied the ruling to schools, deciding discrimination based on a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity would violate Title IX.
Judge Atchley disagreed with the department’s suggestion, saying Bostock “explicitly refused to decide whether ‘sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, and dress codes’ violate Title VII”.