The turbulent national conversation about the limits of federal power versus the power of individual states to self-determine policy has found a new arena, the public restroom. The latest issue that is now within the balance of this conflict, which is as old as the United States, is the potential for new civil rights for transgendered citizens of the United States.
The latest reactionary response by a state as response to federal oversight with the context of the issue of transgender rights is a lawsuit filed by the state government of Texas led by Governor Greg Abbott against the Obama administration. The lawsuit is over the administration’s directive that states transgender students should be allowed to use the restroom and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identification. Both sides of the issue have taken stances nearly identical to the ones being taken over North Carolina’s infamous H.B. 2, dubbed the “bathroom bill” stating that people of the state should use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate.
Those opposed to the Presidential transgender initiative and in support of H.B. 2 such as Governor Abbott are worried about potential sexual assaults on women and children, while those on the other side of the washroom say that those concerns are statistically unfounded and that this is a case of discriminatory policy against a minority. Regardless of view on the issue, it appears both sides are digging in for a long fight with some Texas officials going so far as to say that billions of dollars in federal education funding would be eschewed in order to avoid having to follow the directive. Governor Abbott stated the lawsuit was “challenging the way that the Obama administration is trampling the United States Constitution”.
This will not be the last issue that a state files a lawsuit either, as Texas has sued President Obama dozens of times in recent years and other states may soon follow its lead. In the meantime the transgender population faces the uncomfortable circumstance of having the validity of their issues put under a microscope and discussed by the public at large indefinitely.
Featured Image via Pixabay
