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Texas House approves transgender bathroom ban for schools

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Texas House approves transgender bathroom ban for schools

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The Texas House gave final approval Monday to a bill banning transgender-friendly bathrooms in the state's public schools - a compromise effort that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said was too weak but state business leaders feared could still provoke an economic backlash.

Democrats, civil rights groups and gay rights groups were outraged, saying the ban singles out transgender students, an already vulnerable population, for additional bullying, ridicule and discrimination.

But House Speaker Joe Straus proclaimed victory, saying the compromise threaded the needle - limited enough to avoid economic boycotts but strong enough to divert Gov. Greg Abbott's threat to call a special session on the transgender bathroom issue if the House failed to act.

Read the full story on mystatesman.com.

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Texas House passes ban on transgender bathrooms in schools

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The Texas House gave final approval Monday to a bill banning transgender-friendly bathrooms in the state's public schools - a compromise effort that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said was too weak but state business leaders feared could still provoke an economic backlash.

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Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students - The Washington Post

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Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students - The Washington Post

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The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity, taking a stand on a contentious issue that has become the central battle over LGBT rights.

Officials with the federal Education and Justice departments notified the U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday that the administration is ordering the nation's schools to disregard memos the Obama administration issued during the past two years regarding transgender student rights. Those memos said that prohibiting transgender students from using facilities that align with their gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination laws.

The two-page "Dear colleague" letter from the Trump administration, which is set to go to the nation's public schools, does not offer any new guidance, instead saying that the earlier directive needed to be withdrawn because it lacked extensive legal analysis, did not go through a public vetting process, sowed confusion and drew legal challenges.

The administration said that it would not rely on the prior interpretation of the law in the future.

[Read the Trump administration's letter to schools]

The departments wrote that the Trump administration wants to "further and more completely consider the legal issues involved," and said that there must be "due regard for the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy." Although it offered no clarity or direction to schools that have transgender students, the letter added that "schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that his department "has a duty to enforce the law" and criticized the Obama administration's guidance as lacking sufficient legal basis. Sessions wrote that the Department of Justice remains committed to the "proper interpretation" of the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX but said deference should be given to lawmakers and localities.

"Congress, state legislatures, and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue," Sessions said.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos echoed that sentiment, saying that this is an issue "best solved at the state and local level. Schools, communities, and families can find - and in many cases have found - solutions that protect all students."

DeVos also gave assurances that the department's Office for Civil Rights "remains committed to investigating all claims of discrimination, bullying and harassment against those who are most vulnerable in our schools," and she noted that she considers "protecting all students, including LGBTQ students, not only a key priority for the Department, but for every school in America."

The decision - delayed in part because DeVos and Sessions hit stalemates regarding timing and specific language - drew immediate condemnation from gay and transgender rights advocates, who accused President Trump of violating past promises to support gay and transgender protections. Advocates said the withdrawal of the federal guidance will create another layer of confusion for schools and will make transgender students, who are already vulnerable, more so.

"Attacking our children . . . is no way to say you support and respect LGBTQ people," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Others said the practical effect on the nation's schools would be muted, in part because a federal judge already had blocked the Obama guidance in response to a lawsuit from 13 states that argued it violated states' rights. And it is possible the U.S. Supreme Court could settle the matter soon, as it plans to consider a Virginia case involving a transgender teenager who was barred from using the boys' bathroom at his high school.

[Gavin Grimm just wanted to use the bathroom. He didn't think the nation would debate it.]

The Trump administration's move drew cheers from social conservatives who oppose the idea that a student can identify as a gender that differs from their anatomy at birth.

Vicki Wilson, the mother of a child at Fremd High School in Palatine, Ill., said she sympathizes with children who have "difficult personal issues" to deal with, but thinks that "young men shouldn't be permitted to deal with those issues in an intimate setting like a locker room with young women."

School district officials in Palatine, bowing to federal pressure, allowed a transgender girl to change in the girls' locker room at her school. "No school should impose a policy like this against the will of so many parents," Wilson said during a news conference organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization.

[Illinois group sues Obama administration over transgender students' bathroom access]

The administration's letter was the source of some disagreement between the two issuing departments, with Sessions eager to rescind the Obama administration's guidance as court proceedings in related cases approached, and DeVos keen to leave it in place. Unlike Arne Duncan, Obama's education secretary for seven years, DeVos does not have a close personal relationship with the president she serves; she also lacks the experience and political capital Sessions garnered as a Republican senator.

Sessions is widely known to oppose expanding gay and transgender rights, and DeVos's friends say she personally supports those rights. The new letter is sure to ignite another firestorm for DeVos, who is fresh off her contentious nomination fight and has drawn protests from parents and teachers who believe she is unqualified for the job.

The letter also puts Trump squarely in the middle of the civil rights debate: Despite a flurry of activity in the early weeks of his presidency, Trump had not previously waded into the issue of gay and transgender rights.

[Trump: Rescind Obama's transgender directives, but 'protect everybody']

Trump declined to sign an executive order last month that would have dramatically expanded the rights of people, businesses and organizations of faith to opt out of laws or activities that violate their religion, such as same-sex wedding ceremonies. Many took it as a sign that he would take a more liberal approach on gay issues than his Republican cohorts.

But in an interview with The Washington Post last year, then-candidate Donald Trump had indicated he would rescind the guidance based on the belief that it was a matter best left up to the states.

In the daily news briefing Wednesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer played down the reports of disagreement within the administration - saying the debate came down to timing and some specific wording - and reiterated the states' rights argument.

"The president's made it clear throughout the campaign that he's a firm believer in states' rights," Spicer said.

The Obama administration's guidance was based on the position that barring students from bathrooms that match their gender identities is a violation of Title IX because it amounts to sex discrimination.

Many advocates contend the guidance merely formalized what courts have increasingly recognized: That discrimination against gay and transgender people is a form of sex discrimination because it is rooted in stereotypes about men and women. As a result, they believe transgender people already have the right under Title IX to use their preferred bathroom.

The new letter scrambles the calculus for a number of lawsuits working their way through the courts, particularly the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender Virginia teen who sued his school board for barring him from the boys' restroom. The case is scheduled for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court next month. A lower court cited the Obama administration's position on transgender student rights in siding with Grimm.

Grimm said he was disheartened that the Trump administration is withdrawing the guidance. The Gloucester, Va., school board continued to bar him from the boys' bathroom even after the Obama guidance was issued, but Grimm said the directive was "incredibly empowering."

"It certainly bolstered hope that the future for transgender students was looking up in a way that it hadn't been previously," Grimm said.

Amber Briggle, the mother of a 9-year-old transgender boy in Denton, Tex., said she views the Trump administration's position as a temporary setback and hopes that the Supreme Court will affirm transgender students' rights. But the withdrawal of the Obama directive is a blow, she said, because the guidance made her feel that Washington cared about children like hers and understood the support they need.

"I just don't think my family matters to the Trump administration," she said.

Catherine Lhamon, who headed the Obama Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, said in a sworn declaration that the administration developed the guidance after receiving discrimination complaints from parents of transgender children and questions from teachers and administrators who were having to develop policies with regard to their transgender students.

In 2011, the Education Department received two complaints of discrimination against transgender students in schools. By 2016, that number had leapt to 84, according to the declaration filed in federal court.

In a kindergarten class where students line up by gender to go to the bathroom, "a student has to decide which line to get into, and the teacher has to decide which line to accept that student into, and both of them have to field questions from other students in the class," Lhamon said in an interview. "Any of those choices raises potential for discrimination and potential for harm that all of the students and teachers in a school have to navigate. It's not an abstraction for the people who live it every day."

Lhamon said the withdrawal of the guidance and the notion that the federal government needs more time to consider the issue of transgender accommodations creates chaos in schools and sends a damaging message to children.

Without federal guidance, schools are likely to look to their state governments for clarity, said Francisco Negron Jr., chief counsel for the National School Boards Association.

That could open up battles across the country similar to one last year in North Carolina, when the legislature voted to require people in public buildings to use the restrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificates.

Fifteen states have explicit protections for transgender students, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group; lawmakers in several other states are working to restrict bathroom access for transgender students. The American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks the legislation, said legislators in 14 states filed 20 bills that could lead to restroom restrictions for transgender people, with some proposing that states penalize schools that violate those restrictions. So far, five of those bills have failed.

Many school districts held off on writing restroom policies as they waited for the outcome of the Grimm case. Among them was Fairfax County, Va., one of the largest districts in the nation, which was preparing to draft regulations on restroom access for transgender students to reflect its nondiscrimination policy.

Elizabeth Schultz, a Fairfax County School Board member who opposes expanding the protections, said she hopes the new Trump administration action will lead the district to abandon its efforts.

If the threat of revoking federal funds "is no longer wielded against our local authority, there's no precipitating reason to continue," she said.

Read more:

Obama administration directs schools to accommodate transgender students

Gavin Grimm just wanted to use the bathroom. He didn't think the nation would debate it.

Supreme Court takes up school bathroom rules for transgender students

Parents of transgender children speak out as election results put LGBT advocates on defense

Trump could reverse Obama's actions on college sex assault, transgender rights

Robert Barnes and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.

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Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students

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The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity, taking a stand on a contentious issue that has become the central battle over LGBT rights. Officials with the federal Education and Justice departments notified the U.S.

# data[].attributes.headline
Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.subject
Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity, taking a stand on a contentious issue that has become the central battle over LGBT rights.

Officials with the federal Education and Justice departments notified the U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday that the administration is ordering the nation's schools to disregard memos the Obama administration issued during the past two years regarding transgender student rights. Those memos said that prohibiting transgender students from using facilities that align with their gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination laws.

The two-page "Dear colleague" letter from the Trump administration, which is set to go to the nation's public schools, does not offer any new guidance, instead saying that the earlier directive needed to be withdrawn because it lacked extensive legal analysis, did not go through a public vetting process, sowed confusion and drew legal challenges.

The administration said that it would not rely on the prior interpretation of the law in the future.

[Read the Trump administration's letter to schools]

The departments wrote that the Trump administration wants to "further and more completely consider the legal issues involved," and said that there must be "due regard for the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy." Although it offered no clarity or direction to schools that have transgender students, the letter added that "schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that his department "has a duty to enforce the law" and criticized the Obama administration's guidance as lacking sufficient legal basis. Sessions wrote that the Department of Justice remains committed to the "proper interpretation" of the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX but said deference should be given to lawmakers and localities.

"Congress, state legislatures, and local governments are in a position to adopt appropriate policies or laws addressing this issue," Sessions said.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos echoed that sentiment, saying that this is an issue "best solved at the state and local level. Schools, communities, and families can find - and in many cases have found - solutions that protect all students."

DeVos also gave assurances that the department's Office for Civil Rights "remains committed to investigating all claims of discrimination, bullying and harassment against those who are most vulnerable in our schools," and she noted that she considers "protecting all students, including LGBTQ students, not only a key priority for the Department, but for every school in America."

The decision - delayed in part because DeVos and Sessions hit stalemates regarding timing and specific language - drew immediate condemnation from gay and transgender rights advocates, who accused President Trump of violating past promises to support gay and transgender protections. Advocates said the withdrawal of the federal guidance will create another layer of confusion for schools and will make transgender students, who are already vulnerable, more so.

"Attacking our children . . . is no way to say you support and respect LGBTQ people," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Others said the practical effect on the nation's schools would be muted, in part because a federal judge already had blocked the Obama guidance in response to a lawsuit from 13 states that argued it violated states' rights. And it is possible the U.S. Supreme Court could settle the matter soon, as it plans to consider a Virginia case involving a transgender teenager who was barred from using the boys' bathroom at his high school.

[Gavin Grimm just wanted to use the bathroom. He didn't think the nation would debate it.]

The Trump administration's move drew cheers from social conservatives who oppose the idea that a student can identify as a gender that differs from their anatomy at birth.

Vicki Wilson, the mother of a child at Fremd High School in Palatine, Ill., said she sympathizes with children who have "difficult personal issues" to deal with, but thinks that "young men shouldn't be permitted to deal with those issues in an intimate setting like a locker room with young women."

School district officials in Palatine, bowing to federal pressure, allowed a transgender girl to change in the girls' locker room at her school. "No school should impose a policy like this against the will of so many parents," Wilson said during a news conference organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization.

[Illinois group sues Obama administration over transgender students' bathroom access]

The administration's letter was the source of some disagreement between the two issuing departments, with Sessions eager to rescind the Obama administration's guidance as court proceedings in related cases approached, and DeVos keen to leave it in place. Unlike Arne Duncan, Obama's education secretary for seven years, DeVos does not have a close personal relationship with the president she serves; she also lacks the experience and political capital Sessions garnered as a Republican senator.

Sessions is widely known to oppose expanding gay and transgender rights, and DeVos's friends say she personally supports those rights. The new letter is sure to ignite another firestorm for DeVos, who is fresh off her contentious nomination fight and has drawn protests from parents and teachers who believe she is unqualified for the job.

The letter also puts Trump squarely in the middle of the civil rights debate: Despite a flurry of activity in the early weeks of his presidency, Trump had not previously waded into the issue of gay and transgender rights.

[Trump: Rescind Obama's transgender directives, but 'protect everybody']

Trump declined to sign an executive order last month that would have dramatically expanded the rights of people, businesses and organizations of faith to opt out of laws or activities that violate their religion, such as same-sex wedding ceremonies. Many took it as a sign that he would take a more liberal approach on gay issues than his Republican cohorts.

But in an interview with The Washington Post last year, then-candidate Donald Trump had indicated he would rescind the guidance based on the belief that it was a matter best left up to the states.

In the daily news briefing Wednesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer played down the reports of disagreement within the administration - saying the debate came down to timing and some specific wording - and reiterated the states' rights argument.

"The president's made it clear throughout the campaign that he's a firm believer in states' rights," Spicer said.

The Obama administration's guidance was based on the position that barring students from bathrooms that match their gender identities is a violation of Title IX because it amounts to sex discrimination.

Many advocates contend the guidance merely formalized what courts have increasingly recognized: That discrimination against gay and transgender people is a form of sex discrimination because it is rooted in stereotypes about men and women. As a result, they believe transgender people already have the right under Title IX to use their preferred bathroom.

The new letter scrambles the calculus for a number of lawsuits working their way through the courts, particularly the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender Virginia teen who sued his school board for barring him from the boys' restroom. The case is scheduled for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court next month. A lower court cited the Obama administration's position on transgender student rights in siding with Grimm.

Grimm said he was disheartened that the Trump administration is withdrawing the guidance. The Gloucester, Va., school board continued to bar him from the boys' bathroom even after the Obama guidance was issued, but Grimm said the directive was "incredibly empowering."

"It certainly bolstered hope that the future for transgender students was looking up in a way that it hadn't been previously," Grimm said.

Amber Briggle, the mother of a 9-year-old transgender boy in Denton, Tex., said she views the Trump administration's position as a temporary setback and hopes that the Supreme Court will affirm transgender students' rights. But the withdrawal of the Obama directive is a blow, she said, because the guidance made her feel that Washington cared about children like hers and understood the support they need.

"I just don't think my family matters to the Trump administration," she said.

Catherine Lhamon, who headed the Obama Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, said in a sworn declaration that the administration developed the guidance after receiving discrimination complaints from parents of transgender children and questions from teachers and administrators who were having to develop policies with regard to their transgender students.

In 2011, the Education Department received two complaints of discrimination against transgender students in schools. By 2016, that number had leapt to 84, according to the declaration filed in federal court.

In a kindergarten class where students line up by gender to go to the bathroom, "a student has to decide which line to get into, and the teacher has to decide which line to accept that student into, and both of them have to field questions from other students in the class," Lhamon said in an interview. "Any of those choices raises potential for discrimination and potential for harm that all of the students and teachers in a school have to navigate. It's not an abstraction for the people who live it every day."

Lhamon said the withdrawal of the guidance and the notion that the federal government needs more time to consider the issue of transgender accommodations creates chaos in schools and sends a damaging message to children.

Without federal guidance, schools are likely to look to their state governments for clarity, said Francisco Negron Jr., chief counsel for the National School Boards Association.

That could open up battles across the country similar to one last year in North Carolina, when the legislature voted to require people in public buildings to use the restrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificates.

Fifteen states have explicit protections for transgender students, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group; lawmakers in several other states are working to restrict bathroom access for transgender students. The American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks the legislation, said legislators in 14 states filed 20 bills that could lead to restroom restrictions for transgender people, with some proposing that states penalize schools that violate those restrictions. So far, five of those bills have failed.

Many school districts held off on writing restroom policies as they waited for the outcome of the Grimm case. Among them was Fairfax County, Va., one of the largest districts in the nation, which was preparing to draft regulations on restroom access for transgender students to reflect its nondiscrimination policy.

Elizabeth Schultz, a Fairfax County School Board member who opposes expanding the protections, said she hopes the new Trump administration action will lead the district to abandon its efforts.

If the threat of revoking federal funds "is no longer wielded against our local authority, there's no precipitating reason to continue," she said.

Read more:

Obama administration directs schools to accommodate transgender students

Gavin Grimm just wanted to use the bathroom. He didn't think the nation would debate it.

Supreme Court takes up school bathroom rules for transgender students

Parents of transgender children speak out as election results put LGBT advocates on defense

Trump could reverse Obama's actions on college sex assault, transgender rights

Robert Barnes and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Trump administration on Wednesday revoked federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity, taking a stand on a contentious issue that has become the central battle over LGBT rights. Officials with the federal Education and Justice departments notified the U.S.

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Transgender Creator of Assigned Male Webcomic Facing Death Threats From Online Trolls

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Transgender Creator of Assigned Male Webcomic Facing Death Threats From Online Trolls

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For the past two years, Montreal-based artist Sophie Labelle has published Assigned Male, a webcomic about an 11-year-old transgender girl named Stephanie who is in earliest stages of transitioning and coming out to the people around her. While Labelle's work has been noted in the queer webcomics community for its frank and powerful portrayals of everyday life for trans youth, the artist has recently become a victim of a targeted attack from online trolls who've sent her death threats and doxxed her personal information like her address in an attempt to scare her.

Last week, Labelle was slated to host a launch event for the release of her new book Dating Tips for Trans and Queer Weirdos. A fter receiving thousands of threats of violence from people who said they planned on crashing the launch, though, Labelle chose to cancel it for the protection of the guests.

"We had to discuss as a staff how we felt about posting the event, whether we should continue hosting the event, and given the threats of violence how, or if, we could keep people safe," Marshall Haywood, owner of the store for the event, told CBC News. "And because it did escalate quickly, we felt that on such short notice, we couldn't really guarantee people's safety."

Following the cancelation of her book launch, Labelle continued to receive abuse from online trolls who eventually managed to gain access to her Facebook page for Assigned Male and delete nearly three years of her work. After the page became inundated with transphobic slurs, it was temporarily shut down by Facebook's moderators before being restored to her, but at that point, Labelle had already preemptively moved to shut down some of her other sites for the comic.

"Their goal is explicitly to raise the suicide rate in trans communities," Labelle told the Toronto Star. "They want us to despair and that's why they attack support groups and pages like mine."

While Labelle initially considered calling the police, she ended up refraining because she was unsure as to whether or not the authorities would take the harassment seriously and how they might attempt to handle the situation. Labelle has returned to posting comics and is now moved out of her old apartment.

"They think they are saving civilisation by posting some memes about how I should get killed. And when they start feeling bad about how violent and abusive they are, they say it's just a joke. They accuse their victims of being 'triggered,'" Labelle posted to Facebook yesterday. "That's weird, because from my point of view, you're definitely the ones being "triggered" by my existence."

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Transgender Creator of Assigned Male Webcomic Facing Death Threats From Online Trolls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For the past two years, Montreal-based artist Sophie Labelle has published Assigned Male, a webcomic about an 11-year-old transgender girl named Stephanie who is in earliest stages of transitioning and coming out to the people around her.

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Texas set to pass transgender bathroom law for schools - ABC News

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Texas set to pass transgender bathroom law for schools - ABC News

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A transgender "bathroom bill" reminiscent of one in North Carolina that caused a national uproar now appears to be on a fast-track to becoming law in Texas, though it may only apply to public schools.

A broader proposal mandating that virtually all transgender people in the country's second-largest state use public restrooms according to the gender on their birth certificates sailed through the Texas Senate months ago. A similar measure had stalled in the House, but supporters late Sunday night used an amendment to tack the bathroom restrictions onto a separate and otherwise unrelated bill covering school emergency operation plans for situations such as natural disasters.

Republican Rep. Chris Paddie authored the hotly debated language, saying it had "absolutely no intent" to discriminate. Under it, transgender students at public and charter schools would not be permitted to use the bathroom of their choice, but could be directed to separate, single-occupancy restrooms.

"It's absolutely about child safety," said Paddie, from the East Texas town of Marshall. "This is about accommodating all kids."

His change passed 91-50. The measure formally cleared the House Monday, sending the modified bill to the Senate, which should easily support it. Texas' legislative session ends May 29, but that's plenty of time - even if the bathroom bill is scaled-back enough to only affect the state's roughly 5.3 million public school students, and not the general public.

"This amendment is the bathroom bill and the bathroom bill is an attack on transgender people," said Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat. "Some people don't want to admit that because they are ashamed, and this is shameful."

A small group of Democratic women legislators went into the men's restroom just off the House floor before debate began in protest. With Republicans enjoying solid majorities in both of Texas' legislative chambers, though, such opposition was purely symbolic.

Houston Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson, one of the House's longest-serving and most-respected members, likened the new language to when restrooms nationwide were segregated by race.

"Bathrooms divided us then and bathrooms divide us now. Separate but equal is not equal at all," Thompson said, drawing floor applause.

When Barack Obama was still president, the U.S. Department of Education tried to implement requirements that school districts nationwide allow transgender students to choose campus bathrooms or locker rooms they wished to use. Texas led a lawsuit challenging that directive and a federal judge in Texas ordered it suspended. President Donald Trump then rescinded the order in February.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said he wants to sign a bathroom bill into law. House Speaker Joe Straus, a Republican from San Antonio, has been vocal in his opposition, warning it could hurt the Texas economy that has been among the country's strongest in recent years.

Top firms, chambers of commerce and lobbyists also have decried the bathroom bill in all forms as bad for business. Many Hollywood actors and music stars have suggested state boycotts, and the NFL and NBA have expressed concerns about it passing - even though Houston successfully hosted this year's Super Bowl.

Since 2004, Texas has hosted more combined Super Bowls, NBA All-Star Games and NCAA men's Final Fours than any other state, and San Antonio is scheduled to host another Final Four in 2018.

Supporters described limiting the scope to schools as "middle ground" and hinted that it could soften the kinds of costly boycotts that hit North Carolina after it approved its bathroom bill last year. The NCAA pulled sporting events and the state faced losing billions of dollars in related economic fallout, though some opposition has quieted since North Carolina lawmakers voted in March for a partial repeal.

Straus said in a statement that the House amendment "will allow us to avoid the severely negative impact" of the original Senate bill, which was closer to North Carolina's original bill.

But Rebecca L. Robertson, legal and policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said "there can be no compromise on discrimination."

"Transgender children aren't bargaining chips for lawmakers to trade, and their safety and dignity are non-negotiable," Robertson said in a statement.

Other opponents promised to fight the amendment in court.

If the Legislature succeeds "in forcing discrimination into Texas law, you can bet that Lambda Legal will be on the case before the next school bell rings," Jennifer C. Pizer, senior counsel and director of law and policy at the national gay rights group, said in a statement.

---

This story has been corrected to reflect that San Antonio is hosting the NCAA men's final four in 2018.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Texas set to pass transgender bathroom law for schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A transgender "bathroom bill" reminiscent of one in North Carolina that caused a national uproar now appears to be on a fast-track to becoming law in Texas, though it may only apply to public schools. A broader proposal mandating that virtually all transgender people in the country's...

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Transgender bathroom issue continues to roil Legislature

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Transgender bathroom issue continues to roil Legislature

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Determining which bathrooms transgender Texans can legally use continues to roil the Legislature as the session enters its crucial final days.

Already the subject of two all-night hearings, passionate protests and numerous news conferences, the transgender bathroom issue made a conspicuous appearance at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, emphatically capping a 13-hour day in the Texas Senate.

Seeking to ban transgender-friendly restrooms in all local government buildings, a Republican amendment was proposed for a safety-net bill meant to rescue locally important legislation from oblivion before the session ends Monday.

"I looked for days for some vehicle to put this amendment on," said Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, author of the amendment.

The ban on transgender bathrooms was added as the 48th and final amendment to House Bill 4180 on a largely party-line vote.

It proved to be a short-lived victory for Senate Republicans, who have thus far been thwarted in their efforts to ban bathroom policies that let transgender people choose the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity rather than their biological sex as noted on a birth certificate.

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The House author of HB 4180, quickly declared the amendment, and the entire bill, dead on arrival when it returns to the House.

"They just wasted hours on a dead bill," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.

Coleman told the American-Statesman that he will kill the bill by declining to act when it returns from the Senate - something that is within his power as the bill's author.

That result shouldn't come as a surprise to senators, Coleman said, because he did the same thing toward the end of the 2015 session when Republicans amended a similar bill to try to keep gay marriage illegal no matter how the U.S. Supreme Court ruled.

"The joke's on them," he said. "This bill is never going to be moved by me, on this side."

In fact, Coleman said, he made sure HB 4180 contained no issues he cared about in case Republicans didn't learn their lesson last session.

"I have nothing in that bill that I need or want. Nothing. Zero. I am not invested in that bill at all," he said.

ON MYSTATESMAN.COM: Texas House passes ban on transgender bathrooms in schools

Kolkhorst's amendment would have required multiple-occupancy restrooms in city and county government buildings to be limited to "persons of the same biological sex" as stated on their birth certificates.

Kolkhorst also was the author of Senate Bill 6, a further-reaching measure that sought to ban transgender-friendly bathroom policies in universities and public schools as well as government buildings. Because her Wednesday morning amendment was added to a bill on local government, it couldn't include schools or universities.

In another development, a key senator said he will seek to rework a House-passed version that requires public schools to limit multiple-use bathrooms and locker rooms to each student's biological sex.

Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, said he believed the amendment, added to his school safety bill after an hours-long fight Sunday, "just doesn't do anything."

"I'd like to reset it to the way it was before, where the schools took care of the rare cases they had, and they accommodated those students and didn't necessarily interfere with the privacy of all the other students," he said. "We can either set a rule for the whole state or we can fight this over and over again in court, with all the division within the communities."

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Taylor said he will ask the Senate to reject the House transgender bathroom amendment to Senate Bill 2078, leading to a conference committee, with five senators and five representatives, to find a compromise that can pass both chambers.

"I think we're talking about minor wording fixes. I'm not talking about redoing the whole thing," Taylor said.

Taylor said he didn't believe the conference committee would try to insert transgender bathroom limits that are closer to SB 6, the version strongly favored by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Patrick has criticized the House amendment as ambiguous and ineffective, saying he wanted the House and Senate to address bathroom privacy and safety "in a meaningful way."

But Taylor said he expected his bill to remain focused on schools.

"This is all about schools to me," he said. "After the conference committee, it's brought back to each chamber for up and down votes, so I think you'll see it stay within schools."

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Transgender bathroom issue continues to roil Legislature

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Determining which bathrooms transgender Texans can legally use continues to roil the Legislature as the session enters its crucial final days. Already the subject of two all-night hearings, passionate protests and numerous news conferences, the transgender bathroom issue made a conspicuous appearance at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, emphatically capping a 13-hour day in the Texas Senate.

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He admits he shot a transgender sex worker in the face during their ‘date’ / LGBTQ Nation

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He admits he shot a transgender sex worker in the face during their ‘date’ / LGBTQ Nation

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James Hogan of Detroit has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a transgender sex worker during a rendezvous earlier this year that prosecutors and advocates say came close to ending in that woman's death.

The trans woman of color identified by the Detroit News as a prostitute was in the backseat of Hogan's car with him, after he had solicited her for sex, according to the Fair Michigan Justice Project, which worked with the Wayne County district attorney on this case.

Hogan entered his plea last week and faces a hearing on May 16 on the charges of assault with intent to commit murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the January incident.
RELATED: Suspect arrested in NYC murder of the 10th transgender woman of color this year
Although WDIV-TV named the victim with the male name she was given at birth, LGBTQ Nation is withholding that from this report. Hogan shot the victim in the face with a 9 mm handgun while they were engaged in a sex act, according to the station.

He shot three times, first hitting the victim on the left side of her nose, according to court documents.

Hogan told the victim he did it because he was drunk and wanted to kill himself, according to the Detroit News. Crack was also involved, according to reports. "I'm going to give you 'til (the count of) 10 to leave," she testified.

The victim said despite bleeding profusely she didn't run, fearing he'd shoot her in the back of the head as soon as she turned around. It was only when Hogan agreed to put the gun down and he let her hold his arms down that she was able to escape, she said.

"I finally get a hold of the lock without looking, opened the door and then I just jet out the car. My pants is down, my coat is in the car. I left my coat. I left the pipe, the crack pipe with some dope in there, all that stuff. I just left all that," the victim testified.

The victim spent minutes looking for help, finally getting "some guy that I decide to beg that left the crack house" to drive her to Sinai Grace Hospital, but only after the victim "offered to buy him some rocks to drop me off."

She was hospitalized for several days to treat the gunshot wound to her nose. "She seems as though she's recovered from her injuries," said Dana Nessel, president of the Fair Michigan Justice Project. "She had no difficulty speaking, and was lucky the shot didn't do a great deal more damage."

Following an investigation by Detroit police, Hogan was arrested on Jan. 22.

Nessel told the paper it was "very clear" that Hogan "solicited (the victim's) services because she was a transgender woman," saying "they discussed specific sex acts that could only be performed on a man or a transgender woman."

"This case highlights the mortal danger faced by transgender individuals in Michigan," said Fair Michigan's transgender outreach coordinator Julisa Abad.

Since Michigan law permits employment discrimination against LGBTQ residents, trans people sometimes must resort to sex work in order to survive, which puts them at extreme risk of criminal violence. It is incredibly encouraging to know that the Fair Michigan Justice Project, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, and the Detroit Police Department have stated, in no uncertain terms, that violence against the transgender community is unacceptable under any circumstances and that these agencies stand ready to aggressively prosecute these brutal crimes.

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He admits he shot a transgender sex worker in the face during their 'date'

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James Hogan of Detroit has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a transgender sex worker during a rendezvous earlier this year that prosecutors and advocates say came close to ending in that woman's death.

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These boys just found out their soccer coach is transgender and it’s okay / LGBTQ Nation

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These boys just found out their soccer coach is transgender and it’s okay / LGBTQ Nation

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Kaig Lightner, 36, coaches a boys' soccer team in Portland, Oregon, and he is transgender.

That was a well-kept secret until a week ago, when the Portland Community Football Club p osted a video of his coming out to the team before a practice. "It's still just me," Lightner told them, after revealing he was assigned female at birth.

One boy's immediate reaction - "What?" - spoken aloud, seemed to sum up the group's reaction. Another boy who had been walking away from Lightner at the exact moment he said he was trans, turned around and gave his coach a warm hug and pat on the shoulder.

"I was born a girl," he told them, as some of the boys giggled. Looking at the man, with his beard, they couldn't help but laugh, given their ages, and Lightner took it in stride.

But in the end, they formed a circle and did their team cheer, just as they had before.

From video and still photos posted on the group's Facebook page, it's clear Lightner's players are a very diverse group, ethnically. And he told them that despite the privilege he experienced as someone white, he wanted them to know how he was treated when he was their age - differently from every other girl - was likely something to which they could relate.

"I'll bet you have had things said to you about the color of your skin, or the way you talk, or the country your parents are from. Or any of that. It's really similar to how I got treated as a kid, too."

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These boys just found out their soccer coach is transgender and it's okay

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Kaig Lightner, 36, coaches a boys' soccer team in Portland, Oregon, and he is transgender. That was a well-kept secret until a week ago, when the Portland Community Football Club p osted a video of his coming out to the team before a practice.

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Police arrest suspect in murder of trans woman beaten with pipe on NYC sidewalk / LGBTQ Nation

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Police arrest suspect in murder of trans woman beaten with pipe on NYC sidewalk / LGBTQ Nation

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UPDATE: This story has been revised to include the victim's name and race, the arrest of a suspect in her murder, and new details about the crime.
Police in New York City have arrested a man they describe as homeless for the murder of a transgender woman of color found unconscious in Midtown Manhattan in April, who died last week after being beaten in the head with a pipe.

Brenda Bostick, 59, is the 10th reported murder of a transgender person this year. All of the victims, including Bostick, were women of color.

Bostick was found outside a Five Guys restaurant around 10:30 p.m. April 25, WNBC-TV reports. That location, according to the New York Daily News, was just a few blocks from the W. 25th St. shelter where she had been staying since March, sources told the paper. Reports say she may have known her attacker, who had stayed at that same shelter when she was living there in 2015.

When Bostick first arrived at Bellevue Hospital Center with a head injury, medical workers did not suspect criminal activity. So police didn't learn about the incident until the woman died.

Detectives have obtained surveillance video from that Five Guys restaurant, which the paper reported shows a man standing over Bostick's body.

Police say that man is Joseph Griffin, 26, and that he has a criminal record of 28 arrests but no convictions. He reportedly rushed into traffic just steps from the scene about one hour after Bostick was attacked, climbed atop a taxi cab and jumped onto the hood, smashing the windshield, police said.

Moments earlier he was seen by witnesses behaving erratically, running against oncoming cars and banging on the glass of a bodega, prosecutors said.

Cops arrested Griffin Friday, accusing him of bashing Bostick's head with a pipe. New charges were pending according to the Daily News.

"He was arrested in the subway station only half a block from the location of the assault, informed the detectives who arrested him that location was his home," said Assistant District Attorney Sarah Marquez. "Other circumstantial evidence ties the defendant to the assault, and the people expect the defendant to be charged with that crime as soon as an eyewitness to the crime returns from a trip out of the country."

A Legal Aid lawyer representing the suspect, Nalia Siddiqui, claimed at the arraignment that he was hit by the cab and fell onto it. She didn't address the attack on Bostick.

Griffin remains held on $25,000 bail.

City Councilperson Corey Johnson told WPIX-TV he was " saddened and angered " by news of the woman's death.

"There must be zero tolerance for acts of violence, particularly against transgender individuals, who are disproportionately targeted by hate crimes and discrimination," Johnson said.

"We know that transgender woman are targeted all too often for severe and deadly violence," said Beverly Tillery, Executive Director at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, in a statement. "We are facing a crisis of violence. Ten transgender woman have already been killed so far in 2017 and this must stop. As a society we can stop this epidemic by hiring trans women of color, making sure they have safe places to live and standing up when we see or hear them being demeaned and attacked and simply by valuing their lives. The moment to act is now."
Police are still accepting tips about this case via Crime Stoppers 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting http://www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Dawn Ennis contributed to this report.
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Police arrest suspect in murder of trans woman beaten with pipe on NYC sidewalk

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UPDATE: This story has been revised to include the victim's name and race, the arrest of a suspect in her murder, and new details about the crime. Police in New York City have arrested a man they describe as homeless for the murder of a transgender woman of color found unconscious in Midtown Manhattan in April, who died last week after being beaten in the head with a pipe.

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Log Cabin Republicans meet with White House on transgender student rights / LGBTQ Nation

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Log Cabin Republicans meet with White House on transgender student rights / LGBTQ Nation

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The LGBTQ conservative group the Log Cabin Republicans met with the U.S. Department of Education to discuss protections for transgender students on Tuesday, presenting officials with a white paper outlining policy suggestions.

The group's solution aims to offer accommodations for transgender students while also allowing for school districts to have more control over how they handle the issue.

A statement from the Log Cabin Republicans announcing yesterday's meeting called former president Barack Obama's directive to public schools, instructing them to allow trans students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity, "onerous."

The Trump administration backed away from those protections, a move that drew criticism from the Log Cabin Republicans.

"There exists an important need to provide basic liberties to all students while still respecting the diverse municipal landscapes which comprise the thousands of school districts in our nation," the paper, titled "Transgender Student Safety & Equality For All Students," reads. "A transgender student's freedom needs to be handled in the same responsible manner that applies to their non-transgender peers. If consistent accommodations are being made for non-transgender students, those same accommodations must be made for their transgender peers."

Suggestions include making single stall, single-sex restrooms into single stall, gender-inclusive ones; ensuring multiple stall restrooms have adequate locks for security and privacy; and providing curtains or partitions in changing areas for added privacy.

Log Cabin Republicans President Gregory T. Angelo said during a recent appearance on CBS News that Obama's directive was a "one-size fits all requirement, and a mandate, from the federal government that if not complied to could have potentially taken away funds from public schools."

Angelo then went on to announce that the Log Cabin Republicans had been invited by the Department of Education to brief them on their suggestions for replacement guidelines.

.@vladduthiersCBS interviews LCR President @gregorytangelo re: @POTUS Religious Freedom Executive Order and supporting transgender students pic.twitter.com/M5TKQlA78u

- LogCabinRepublicans (@LogCabinGOP) May 5, 2017

The group says their Transgender Leadership Caucus members worked on the white paper for over two months.

Angelo recently drew criticism for taking part in a gay Republicans panel last month that including former politician Fred Karger, and writers Lucian Wintrich, and Chadwick Moore, both of whom made transphobic comments.

BuzzFeed News reported that along with Wintrich and Moore, the forum's moderator, Jeff Goolsby, all made disparaging remarks about the transgender community. Angelo is said to have sat silently by, not coming to the defense of trans people.

The Log Cabin Republicans responded on Twitter that Angelo spoke up for transgender rights, but those remarks don't appear to have come in response to the anti-trans comments made by Wintrich, Moore, and Goolsby, the Washington Blade reports.

"It is a honor to represent Log Cabin Republicans and our transgender community to the Department of Education," said Regina W. Roberts, who worked on the paper. "We are very pleased with the conversations and are looking forward to helping to produce Title IX guidance that will protect the privacy and needs of all students, both transgender and non-transgender alike."

"Today's meeting with the Department of Education was very heartening and quite productive," added Jennifer C. Williams, who also worked on the paper. "Their staff were fully engaged and they asked many great questions about the important issues involved and about our lives as transgender Americans."

"I couldn't be more proud of our Transgender Leadership Caucus - or of the Department of Education for taking this important meeting," Angelo said. "The white paper we presented this morning marks the culmination of weeks of work on behalf of transgender students, but it does not mark the end of our efforts. Log Cabin Republicans remains committed to the safety of transgender students and the equality of all students, and we look forward to continued conversations with the Trump Administration to achieve that end."

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Log Cabin Republicans meet with White House on transgender student rights

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The LGBTQ conservative group the Log Cabin Republicans met with the U.S. Department of Education to discuss protections for transgender students on Tuesday, presenting officials with a white paper outlining policy suggestions. The group's solution aims to offer accommodations for transgender students while also allowing for school districts to have more control over how they handle the issue.

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Texas ‘bathroom bill’ appears dead but trans rights are still under threat / LGBTQ Nation

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Texas ‘bathroom bill’ appears dead but trans rights are still under threat / LGBTQ Nation

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A bill that would have prohibited schools, and other political subdivisions, from passing or enacting policies allowing transgender individuals to use the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity failed to move ahead in Texas after missing a key deadline on Monday.

The House State Affairs Committee took no action on House Bill 2899, killing its chances of making it before a full chamber for a vote.

The bill was seen as having a better chance of making it through the legislative process than a similar one in the Senate, Senate Bill 6.

That bill would not only prohibit transgender individuals from using the bathrooms matching their gender identity in government-owned buildings, it would also nullify trans bathroom protections passed by cities in the state via nondiscrimination orders. Senate Bill 6 passed in March but has not been referred to a committee by House Speaker Joe Straus, who opposes it.

That doesn't mean the issue is dead, however. Republican leadership remains committed to pushing the issue through, and will most likely try to do so through an amendment to another bill.

"I still am confident we will have an amendment opportunity," said House Bill 2899 author Republican state Rep. Ron Simmons.

Simmons told the Dallas News it is "still an issue the state needs to address."

"We still have three weeks left," Republican Tony Tinderholt, a Republican House member and member of the Freedom Caucus, said. "We're going to force the issue."

Previous attempts in the House to add amendments limiting bathroom rights to bills have failed.

It is also possible that Gov. Greg Abbott could call a special session if the efforts are unsuccessful through the legislative session, although that option seems less likely.

Robert Morris, a pastor at a Dallas-area megachurch said Abbott contacted him and nine other churches to encourage them to tell their congregants to support the legislation.

"The governor said 'please ask your people to call their state rep by Monday,'" Morris said. "We don't want to be disrespectful to anyone, but this is so boys do not go into girls' locker rooms. And girls do not go into boys' locker rooms."

The Texas Pastors Council told its supports to put pressure on Abbott to call a special session if a bill limiting transgender bathroom rights isn't passed during the regular legislative session.

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Texas 'bathroom bill' appears dead but trans rights are still under threat

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A bill that would have prohibited schools, and other political subdivisions, from passing or enacting policies allowing transgender individuals to use the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity failed to move ahead in Texas after missing a key deadline on Monday.

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For Transgender Students, Disparate Treatment Is Discrimination - NYTimes.com

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For Transgender Students, Disparate Treatment Is Discrimination - NYTimes.com

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For Transgender Students, Disparate Treatment Is Discrimination

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The girl misses instructions with her team. She's been made late for class. And being singled out reinforces a sense of differentness.

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A Middle Ground Can Be Found on Some Transgender Issues - NYTimes.com

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A Middle Ground Can Be Found on Some Transgender Issues - NYTimes.com

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A Middle Ground Can Be Found on Some Transgender Issues

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In a school locker room, with unavoidable public nudity, the complexity of dealing with adolescent identities should be taken into consideration.

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Transgender Students in High School Locker Rooms - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

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Transgender Students in High School Locker Rooms - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

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Transgender Students in High School Locker Rooms

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Can transgender students' rights be protected while recognizing other students' concerns about privacy in a locker room?