Law & Courts News in Brief

LGBT Group Sues Government for Records on Transgender-Guidance-Policy Shift

By Evie Blad — August 29, 2017 1 min read
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A prominent LGBT legal group has sued the U.S. departments of Education and Justice for records related to the agencies’ decision to withdraw federal guidance on the rights of transgender students in public schools.

Lambda Legal filed its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last week, seeking all records and correspondence related to the policy shift and its implementation. The federal agencies have not yet provided those documents after the organization made a formal open-records request in March, the suit says.

The original guidance—issued by the Obama administration—asserted that Title IX, the federal gender-nondiscrimination law, guarantees the rights of transgender students to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The Trump administration rescinded that guidance in February, leaving it to schools to interpret federal law.

A version of this article appeared in the August 30, 2017 edition of Education Week as LGBT Group Sues Government for Records on Transgender-Guidance-Policy Shift

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