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President Obama’s Federal Guidelines On Transgender Students Under Fire — Congressman Introduces Bill To Block

By Greg Hoadley
Published on: 08:35 PST, May 19, 2016

President Barack Obama’s federal guidelines on transgender bathrooms in public schools have come under fire, as one congressman has introduced a bill to block them from taking effect, the Washington Examiner is reporting.

Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) introduced the bill, which dictates that public schools that don’t comply with the Obama administration guidelines would not be at risk of losing any federal funds.

Messer declared that it was “irresponsible for the Obama administration to begin this social experiment in the bathrooms of our nation’s elementary schools,” adding that, “Decisions of this magnitude should be made at the state and local level by people who will put the interest of our kids ahead of political ideology.”

Congressman Luke Messer
Congressman Luke Messer introduced legislation in response to President Obama’s guidelines on transgender students in public schools. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

His bill, the Prohibiting the Usurpation of Bathroom Laws through Independent Choice School Act, or the PUBLIC School Act, states that it “shall not be unlawful under any federal law” for state or local authorities to “enforce a policy regarding the use of sex-segregated bathrooms, or sex-segregated locker rooms, of educational institutions on the basis of gender identity,” and that federal money “may not be reduced or denied” because schools do not wish to comply with the Obama administration guidelines.

The guidelines from Obama’s administration were introduced in a joint letter by the federal departments of Justice and Education on Saturday, May 14. According to CNN, “This latest guidance for schools goes beyond the bathroom issue, touching upon privacy rights, education records and sex-segregated athletics, all but guaranteeing transgender students the right to identify in school as they choose.”

Seventy-three Republican lawmakers then wrote to President Obama, according to the Examiner. They wanted to know what would happen to public schools that did not comply, whether the guidelines made allowances for “rights of conscience,” and what specific steps schools had to take to comply to the new guidelines. The GOP lawmakers asked for a reply from the Obama administration by May 30.

As Inquisitr reported on May 16, the controversy began when the city of Charlotte passed an ordinance that allowed people to use the restroom of their choice. The North Carolina state legislature responded on March 23 by passing House Bill 2 (HB-2), which stated that people must use public bathrooms corresponding to the gender they were born with.

On May 4, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory received a letter from the Obama administration, declaring that this law violates the U.S Civil Rights Act. Five days later, the federal government sued North Carolina.

President Obama defended the guidelines in a recent interview with BuzzFeed News, saying “it is part of our obligation as a society to make sure everybody is treated fairly.” He added that these students “are subject to a lot of bullying. They’re vulnerable.”

According to the New York Times, the Obama administration said that President Obama “had been kept apprised of its progress and that it was broadly consistent with his values.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott accused Obama of “trying to cram down as many parts of his liberal agenda on the United States of America as he possibly can” before leaving office in January.

What do you think? Are President Obama’s administration guidelines on public school bathrooms reasonable? Or are they overreaching?

[Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]

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