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Anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom’s Newest Target: Transgender Youth
Yesterday, the notoriously anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education regarding a settlement the department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) made with an Illinois school last year in favor of a transgender student.
In November, OCR ruled that Township High School broke non-discrimination laws after refusing to grant a student, who identifies as female and participates in girls’ sports, unrestricted access to the girls’ locker room. Several weeks later, Palatine District 211 board members reaffirmed their agreement with OCR, approving the use of the female locker room for the transgender student.
“ADF is arguing that the school district’s restroom policy and its locker room agreement with DOE violate the students’ constitutional privacy rights as well as the federal law known as Title IX,” the ADF explained. “ADF is also arguing that DOE’s action—redefining ‘sex’ to including ‘gender identity’ and telling schools that they must let males use the girls’ facilities, and vice versa—is illegal.”
Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 as protecting transgender students from discrimination, including allowing them to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity. The ruling came in the case of Gavin Grimm, a 16-year-old high school student and transgender teen, whose lawsuit against Virginia’s Gloucester County School District alleges the district violated Title IX by denying him use of the boy’s restroom.
ADF is one of the United States’ most dangerous organizations working to prevent equality for LGBT people across the globe. An enthusiastic leader in defending the unconscionable “right” to discriminate against LGBT people, ADF is a worldwide exporter of hate. With offices in many places around the world, ADF uses their global reach and budget of over 54 million dollars to promote discriminatory legislation, and foster anti-LGBT initiatives. ADF bills itself as an “alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith”—unless of course that faith contradicts with their own anti-LGBT version.
HRC is committed to providing support for transgender youth and their families. Unfortunately, groups like the ADF are going out of their way to harm and directly target transgender youth. This in addition to the alarming onslaught of legislation nationwide targeting transgender people, and particularly children.
HRC Foundation’s guide, Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools, made in partnership with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Gender Spectrum, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Education Association, is a first-of-its-kind resource providing a blueprint for safe, supportive and inclusive school environments for transgender youth.
To learn more about the ADF, click here.
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