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Lawyer: Transgender Bathroom Ruling Unlikely to Affect Maine Students

A federal judge in Texas has sided with Maine Gov. Paul LePage and several other states over their opposition to transgender students’ use of bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

In May the federal government told public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. But Judge Reed O’Connor is blocking the federal directive, at least for now.

Zach Heiden, legal director for the ACLU of Maine, says O’Connor’s decision is unlikely to affect transgender students in Maine.

“This is one judge in Texas who is trying to block advice and guidance from the Obama administration,” he says. “But it’s not really clear at all what legal weight that should have, especially here in Maine where we have independent state protections. Here, our Maine Human Rights Act protects transgender students and guarantees them the right of access.”

The Obama administration’s guidance in May came days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law that requires people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. That prompted nine states and three individual governors, including LePage, to challenge the policy as “unconstitutional.”

Monday is the first day of school in Texas and in many other parts of the country, and Heiden says there is one thing that he does think will result from the judge’s decision.

“The only effect that this ruling will definitely have is make students more likely to face abuse and hostility in schools, and it’s hard to see why that’s in anybody’s interest,” he says.