HLERK continues to follow the legal developments relating to transgender students.
On July 8, 2016, the State of Nebraska along with several other states, filed a federal complaint requesting relief from implementation of the Dear Colleague Letter issued by the Department of Education and the Department of Justice on May 13, 2016. Similar to the Ohio case we reported on in June, this case alleges that the Dear Colleague Letter’s interpretation of the term “sex” to include gender identity constitutes a new “rule, regulation and guidance” imposing “new obligations that never previously existed.”
The complaint alleges that these new “rules, regulations and guidance were enacted without following the notice and comment procedures that the APA requires.” In addition to the State of Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming are named plaintiffs in this complaint. In combination with the Texas lawsuit filed on May 25, 2016, at least twenty-one states are now suing the federal government over implementation of the Dear Colleague Letter.
Please contact Michelle Todd, Stephanie Jones or Kaitlin Atlas with your transgender student inquiries.
