Have A Wonderful 2018-19 School Year, Trans Family!

The school year gets started for ten Houston area school districts including the Alief one I now live in tomorrow.   But the events in Achille, OK have me thinking about our trans kids getting ready to start school either tomorrow or over the next few weeks. 

And Maddie, you and your family are in our collective thoughts as you start the school year in Achille today.  We hope it gets much better for you as the year continues and those transphobic adults are punished. 

It also has me pissed about the move Secretary of Miseducation Betsy DeVos pulled in which they announced back in February they would not be acting on bathroom discrimination complaints filed by transgender students

But back to discussing this school year that is about to start.

Trans kids, your Aunt Monica wants you to know that you are not only loved by me and your trans elders, we will fight with every fiber of our beings for your humanity and your human rights.  We will also fight for your most important right of getting a quality education free from harassment by you fellow students or their transphobic parents

We will also fight tooth and nail for those of you who wish to participate in extracurricular activities so that those of you who have the ability and talent to excel in sports can do so.

So run for class president.   Try out for whatever team you wish.  Run for homecoming or prom king and queen   Run for cheerleader. because we trans elders and our accomplices will be solidly in your corner rooting for your success.

We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you are left alone to handle your education business, you will excel and thrive because you are #TransExcellence personified.

Also keep in mind that standing up for you trans selves can also lead to human rights advances for our entire community.

While we are in a tough environment to grown up trans, we have gone through far worse periods in our history as trans people and survived it.  This Trump misadministration will eventually go away as you elder work to make him a one termer.   Also keep in mind that your best revenge against the folks who hate you is to hold your head up high, be unapologetically proud of being trans, and be better students and human beings than they are.

As this 2018-19 school year begins, I'm looking forward to seeing and writing about the historic trails you will blaze over the next few months that inspire me to work harder to be a better role model for you. 

No matter what happens in this 2018-19 school year, know that we unconditionally love you and are rooting for your scholastic success.  Your trans elders and I also hope you have a school year as wonderful and fabulous as we know you trans kids all are, whether you're starting pre-K, elementary school, middle school, high school, college or graduate school.

Have a wonderful 2018-19 school year, trans family.
 

Unjust Injunction Granted In Texas vs United States Trans Rights Case

The transphobic oppressors won a round in federal district court as US District Judge Reed O'Connor, a known anti-LGBT rights oppressor and GW Bush judicial appointee issued a preliminary nationwide injunction Sunday against the federal government's DOE/DOJ guidance to public schools regarding their legal responsibility to allow transgender students to use the same restrooms as other cisgender students.

Translation: the current jacked up status quo is in place until the lawsuit flied by my indicted attorney general works its way through the federal court system.  The federal government can appeal the injunction and request a stay of it if they wish to the appellate court or the SCOTUS.

All elections at every level of government matter.  Presidential elections matter because they get to select SCOTUS and federal judges.  If you're pissed off about this ruling, keep that in mind on November 8.

Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Texas, the Transgender Law Center, the GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) had submitted a joint friend of the court amicus brief in the lawsuit by Texas and 10 other Republican controlled states subsequently joined by two others against the United States, the Departments of Education, Justice and Labor and several federal officials

Those organizations issued a joint statement shortly after Judge O'Connor's unjust ruling.:

A ruling by a single judge in one circuit cannot and does not undo the years of clear legal precedent nationwide establishing that transgender students have the right to go to school without being singled out for discrimination. This unfortunate and premature ruling may, however, confuse school districts that are simply trying to support their students, including their transgender students.

 So let us make it clear to those districts: your obligations under the law have not changed, and you are still not only allowed but required to treat transgender students fairly.

The scope of this injunction has no effect on the ability of other courts or lawyers representing transgender people to continue to rely on the federal government’s interpretations of Title IX or on prior decisions that have reached similar conclusions about the scope of federal sex discrimination laws. 

The court’s misguided decision targets a small, vulnerable group of young people – transgender elementary and high school students – for potential continued harassment, stigma and abuse.

Those five civil rights organizations pointed out that Judge O'Connor failed to consider the interests of the transgender students the federal laws sought to protect,  and pledged "We will continue to file lawsuits representing transgender students and litigate them to the fullest extent of the law-regardless of what happens with this particular federal guidance."

Chuck Smith, the CEO of Equality Texas also expressed his organization's disappointed over the unjust ruling.

We are disappointed by the ruling, but despite this setback, we are hopeful and know that the civil rights of all students will ultimately prevail. 

Transgender Texans, and in particular transgender kids, must be afforded the most basic dignity to use the restroom. Paxton’s actions seek to punish and harm transgender students who have done nothing wrong. 

We will continue to fight with the parents of these children until “ALL” children do not face discrimination and are treated equally under the law.
An injunction doesn't change what existing law is. It would only apply to the DOJ's issuance of its interpretation. So schools still need to comply with the law. Title IX and VII still prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.

This decision does nothing to prevent school districts to work with parents on an individual basis to ensure they are protected in school and do not face bullying, alienation or discrimination.

In the ruling, Judge O’Conner said, “the difficult policy issue is not a subject of his order.” We believe this civil rights issue will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The band of trans oppressor states joining together to gleefully oppress trans students in addition to my home state of Texas, includes Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky (through its GOP Gov. Matt Bevin) Louisiana, Mississippi, (through its GOP Gov. Phil Bryant ), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.   Other plaintiffs seeking to oppress trans students are the  Arizona Department of Education, the Heber-Overgaard Unified School District in Arizona, Harrold ISD in Texas and Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R)

The good news is that many of these plaintiffs are in the Fourth, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits which have already issued binding appellate rulings that are consistent with the guidance of the federal agencies.

This is just the opening rounds of this court battle.  I'm positive there is going to be a day coming soon that I will have good news to report when it comes to this Texas v United States case and common sense and justice will prevail.

Paxton's Unjust Anti-Trans Lawsuit Being Heard In Federal Court

School is about to start in the over 1000 independent school districts in Texas and elsewhere, and our indicted GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton, fresh off a loss from his futile defense of the unjust Texas voter suppression law has now turned his attention toward oppressing trans people.

Yesterday Paxton asked for an expedited ruling in their federal lawsuit they have filed against the DOE/DOJ Dear College letter guidelines that encourage school districts to not discriminate against their transgender students.

But since the Republican Party is now politically invested in oppressing transgender people for their nefarious political gain, of course he would lead twelve other Republican controlled states in the effort.

The case is being heard in Judge Reed O'Connor's court in Fort Worth, and I'm nervous about it because this judge is a GW Bush appointee and has an anti-LGBT rights history.

However, the fact that after a two hour hearing Judge O'Connor didn't issue a ruling in either direction may be a good sign.

But until he actually announces it, it could go either way.  Because of this judge's anti-LGBT history and being a GW Bush appointee, I'm not expecting positive news out of Fort Worth

We'l see if Judge O'Connor rejects Paxton's and attorney Austin Nimock's argument that the federal government has usurped the authority of states and schools by requiring that sexes must be mixed in  'intimate areas' like bathrooms.

The administration is arguing that discrimination against transgender students violates federal nondiscrimination statutes, violates Title IX, and gives transgender students the right to use their prefered bathroom in public school, and requires schools to treat a students gender identity as the student's sex for the purposes of Title IX compliance.

I have an idea what Republicans like Paxton and his transphobic friends have historically done in bathrooms since they are so overly fixated on them.

But we are tired of in Trans World the GOP doing nonstop fear mongering about them.

Texas so far has not only jumped the gun by filing this lawsuit before the DOE/DOJ guidelines have had time to be enacted so we can see their effects in real time, but have also not shown so far how the DOE/DOJ guidelines have 'irreparably harmed Texas and the other states suing for the right to continue to oppress trans children.

This is also about Texas and its 12 co -conspirators wanting to continue to hate on President Obama by any means necessary, Dan patrick and Greg Abbott trying to divert attention from their SB 14 court loss, and Paxton trying to deflect from his own legal problems at the expense of our human rights.

Department Of Education Issues Decree Protecting Transgender Students

It's been a great week for the American trans community thanks to the attorney general's declaration that they and the Obama Administration will do everything possible to protect trans Americans going forward, and we have even more evidence of this morning.

The Department of Education this morning is issuing a directive in a letter signed by officials from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice's Vanita Gupta  that states all public schools across the nation must be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

The letter will also state that under federal law a school's obligation to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of sex requires schools to provide transgender students equal access to educational programs and activities even in circumstances in which other students, parents or community members raise objections or concerns..

'As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others discomfort cannot justify  a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students.'

“No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus,” said Secretary of Education  John B. King Jr.in a statement. “We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and violence.”

the decree does not have the force of law, but schools that continue to discriminate against transgender students may face loss of federal funding.