Department of Justice, Justice

DOJ Scales Back On Transgender Defense, In Sign Of Things To Come

There is clearly tension in the Trump administration over LGBTQ rights.

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Unisex bathroomThe immediate problem with installing a Klan sympathizer as head of the Department of Justice isn’t going to be a fusillade attack on minority rights. To do real damage, all Jeff Sessions has to do is refuse to defend the rights of people he doesn’t like.

First up, transgender public school students. On his way out of the door, President Obama gave “guidance” instructing public schools to allow students to use whatever bathroom conformed to their gender identity, under his interpretation of Title IX. Texas and 12 other states sued. And the Fifth Circuit granted a nationwide stay on Obama’s executive guidance (sound familiar).

The Obama Justice Department requested, essentially, a stay on the “nationwide” aspect of the stay. They asked the court to allow the guidance to proceed for the 37 states that did not sue, while the government worked out its appeal for the 13 states that did sue. Remember, this was all done under the assumption that the Republicans were not going to successfully steal a potential tie-breaking Supreme Court seat.

On Friday, the Sessions Justice Department removed the government’s request to limit the stay. From PBS Newshour:

Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, said they were “incredibly disappointed” by the filing on Friday.

“Our concern is that it’s a very clear signal that at a minimum the Department of Justice — and possibly more broadly throughout the Trump administration — will not protect transgender students,” she said.

There is clearly tension in the Trump administration over LGBTQ rights. President Trump, and his family, seem to be genuinely uninterested in destroying gay and transgender rights in this country. Trump hates women, somewhat regardless of sexual orientation — which is a kind of progress, I guess. He doesn’t obviously hate gay men.

Look, on Earth Two, you can imagine “Gays for Trump” being a thing that exists outside of a Peter Theil fantasy world. Could you shave off white, economically secure gay men from gay women and minorities? Of course you could!

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But in the real world, Trump chose Mike Pence as his running mate. Pence hates gay people like they stole something from him. Many of the “social conservatives” who debased themselves by voting for this orange craven idol also hate gay people. A big part of the Trump coalition are old people who are “afraid” of the pace of social change: and allowing “boys” to pee standing up in the “girls” bathroom is like exhibit A of a world “done turned upside down, y’all.”

I think Pence and Sessions know that they don’t have to put the hammer to LGBTQ rights to get 90 percent of what they want. They don’t need to crush gay rights, they just need to stop defending them.

If they can get the government to stop defending gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals, if they can appoint judges who won’t defend them, then it doesn’t matter if “technically” people are entitle to due process regardless of sexual orientation. The 14th Amendment isn’t showing up to stop the boys from giving you a swirly while you use the bathroom. People have to defend you, and Sessions and Pence (and Betsy DeVos, while we’re here) can do a lot to make sure that none of those people work anywhere near where transgendered students are being tormented.

Trump personally might not have anything against LGBTQ rights, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to defend them. Pence and Sessions don’t need Trump’s help. They just need Trump to keep walking down the hall as they lock the queer kid in his locker.

U.S. withdraws stay request in transgender bathroom case [PBS Newshour]
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Said to Have Helped Thwart L.G.B.T. Rights Rollback [New York Times]

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Earlier: Ninth Circuit UPHOLDS Temporary Restraining Order On Trump’s Travel Ban

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