On August 21, 2016, a federal court in Texas issued a preliminary injunction stopping the federal government from enforcing the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice’s (DOJ) "Joint Guidance" that interprets both Title VII and Title IX as applying to gender identity. The federal court also ruled that the injunction should apply nationwide.
The federal court found that the plaintiffs, a group of several states and school districts, had met the burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction and stopped the ED and DOJ from enforcing its "Joint Guidance" against plaintiffs and their schools, school boards and “other public, educationally-based institutions.” It also indicated that while the injunction is in place, the ED and DOJ are forbidden “from initiating, continuing, or concluding any investigation based on [the ED's and DOJ's] interpretation that the definition of sex includes gender identity in Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex.” The injunction also prohibits the ED and DOJ “from using the Guidelines or asserting the Guidelines carry weight in any litigation initiated following the date of this Order.”
For additional information regarding the ED's and DOJ's "Joint Guidance" click here.
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