Transgender Students Must Use Restroom of Assigned Sex, Federal Judge Rules

Transgender students lost a key court case this weekend after a federal judge halted new rules protecting their right to use restrooms and changing rooms from taking effect.

The Obama administration's guidance earlier this summer that allowed transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity was challenged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 12 other states.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled in favor of Paxton and the states, who agreed that the new rules would cause a "severe disruption" to schools when the academic year resumed this fall.

O'Connor's ruling is just more fallout from the Supreme Court's decision to grant an injunction in a similar Virginia case, where Gloucester County Schools sued--and won--the right to keep transgender student Gavin Grimm from using a male restroom.

More than a year after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, the federal courts have shown less enthusiasm when handling cases on transgender rights. Last week, a judge ruled in favor of a Detroit funeral home that fired an employee when she started to transition. That judge ruled the funeral home had the right to fire a transgender employee because of "sincerely held religious beliefs."