Ohio, other states drop bathroom lawsuit
It’s now up to individual Ohio school districts to decide which restroom and shower facility their transgender students should use.
A federal lawsuit has been dismissed upon a request by Ohio and the nine other states that went to court over a May directive from the administration of former President Barack Obama saying schools should allow transgender students to use the facilities of the gender with which they identify.
But since the administration of President Donald Trump withdrew the the directive, the 10 states led by Nebraska essentially deemed the dispute moot.
“The Department of Justice has restored the proper legal application of (federal law),” said Suzanne Gage, a spokeswoman at the Nebraska attorney general’s office, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
“Therefore, we dismissed our lawsuit. School districts will again have the freedom to fashion policies regarding sensitive privacy issues at the local level.”
The motion to dismiss was approved by U.S. District Court Judge John Gerrard in Lincoln, the newspaper said.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, said Ohio agreed with the decision to drop the case since the Obama letter that prompted it has been pulled. The rules would have applied to colleges as well as kindergarten through 12th grade schools nationwide about locker rooms, showers, overnight accommodations, dress codes and athletics.
“Attorney General DeWine strongly believes these questions should be handled by our local school officials, which in Ohio means our locally elected school board members,” Tierney had said earlier.
A couple of weeks after the May directive from the Obama team, DeWine pledged, “If the Obama administration takes action to remove these decisions from Ohio parents and local schools, I will vigorously fight against such overreach. ... There are many, many questions that, consistent with constitutional guarantees, are best left to the decent, commonsense judgment of individuals and communities at the state and local level.”
The other states in the lawsuit were Michigan, North and South Dakota, Arkansas, Montana, Kansas, South Carolina and Wyoming.
Other lawsuits are still pending on transgender students’ rights. This list is compiled from voluntary submissions by parents to hospitals. 11
Brittani/ girl, March 13 Clarissa/ Jerrade: boy, March 15 Yavona/ Ethan: boy, March 13 David:
Jessica and Christopher: girl, March 15 Angela/ Noah: boy, March 15 Megan: boy, March 15 Katharine and Matthew: boy, March 16 Brittanie/ Brian: boy, March 14 Krista and Dan: boy, March 15 Tatiana: girl, March 14 Angelyn and John: boy March 12 Mariam/ Mamadou: girl, March 11 Kristina and Angelo: girl, March 14 Danielle/ Bryan: girl, March 14 Megan and Joshua: boy, March 11 Krystal/ Shaen: boy, March 15 Destanee: girl, March 11 Aricka/ Kevin: girl, March 10 Kelly/ Ernest: boy, March 11 Brianna/ Johnathan: girl, March 12 Marian/ Hassan: boy, March 9 Kaylyn and Nicholas: girl, March 10 Jayden/ Shane: boy, March 15 Ashley and Ryan: boy, March 12 Angel: girl, March 12 Natasha/ Adam: boy, March 10 Brittany: boy, March 14 Tyler: boy, March 14
Kayla/ Alex: boy, March 17 Kirsten/ Logan: girl, March 13 Beverly and Ryan: boy, March 12 Stachys/ Kendrick: boy, March 13 Melissa and Scott: twin boys, March 13 Kelly: girl, March 13
Hali and Joseph: boy, March 12
Brittany/ Devin: girl, Jan. 22
Amy and Andy: boy, March 14
Chrissy and Nick: girl, March 15
Leanna/ Dustin: girl, March 13
Yeon/ Hyounglim: girl, March 13
Amy/ boy, March 13
Mary/ boy, March 15
Jessica and Scott: Adam: Jim: boy, March 14 Tyler/ Nathan: girl, March 13 Kaitlyn and Matthew: boy, March 14 Hawzhin/ Ashaswar: girl, March 13 Courtney and Kent: girl, March 15 Taylour and Marcus: girl, March 13 Zainab/ Ahmad: boy, March 15 Rachel and Joshua: boy, March 14 Megan/ Anthony: boy, March 15 Anna/ Alex: boy, March 15 Rachel and Benjamin: boy, March 15 Halah Al/ Yousef Al: boy, March 14 Amy and Dave: girl, March 12 Jessica/ Eric: girl, March 12 Elizabeth and Daniel: girl, March 12 Alexa and Michael: boy, March 13 Addie and Justin: boy, Feb. 21
Brittany/ Kyle: girl, March 14 The American Red Cross has an ongoing need for donors of all blood types, especially type O negative. Donors can call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go to redcrossblood.org to schedule an appointment. Walk-in donors also are welcome. Blood drives are open today at:
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