EQCA Statement on DOJ Failure to Defend Transgender Student Guidelines

Los Angeles–In response to a Justice Department announcement that it is withdrawing its request for a stay of an injunction on enforcement of Obama-era guidelines protecting transgender students, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:

“Two weeks after pulling back on an on-again, off-again executive order that would have allowed sweeping religious exemptions to requirements protecting LGBT people from discrimination, the Trump Administration has reminded us that rollbacks of LGBT civil rights do not have to be thunderous or accompanied by great fanfare. They can happen quietly, incrementally, while the nation is otherwise distracted.

In withdrawing its request for a stay on an injunction barring the federal government from enforcing President Obama’s guidelines protecting transgender students, the Justice Department has signaled – less than 48 hours after confirmation of Jeff Sessions as attorney general by the U.S. Senate – that it does indeed intend to dismantle as much of recent LGBT civil rights gains as possible.

These guidelines – similar to legislation already in effect in California – protect the basic dignity and safety that transgender students deserve. Equality California will use every measure at its disposal to ensure that federal nondiscrimination protections remain safe from attack and that all students are equally protected by the U.S. Constitution.”