Fox News raised a very important question lately: "Do the rights of boys who identify as girls trump the rights of girls who are born girls?"
That question is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by dozens of Illinois parents after the Obama administration’s Department of Education strong-armed their school district into allowing a transgender student the right to use all girls’ locker rooms.
"The girls are mortified," said Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jeremy Tedesco, a religious liberty law firm representing some 50 families. "They are in a constant state of fear that their bodies are going to be exposed to a male in these settings. It’s a constant state of stress and anxiety for them."
At least one of the plaintiffs, a female student at the high school, was harassed and bullied because she is uncomfortable changing in the same locker room with a biological boy.
"While she was in the changing stall, other girls who were in the locker room began calling her names, including 'transphobic' and 'homophobic'," the lawsuit states.
The DOE has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois told the Chicago Tribune the lawsuit is a "sad development by groups opposed to fair and humane treatment of all students, including those who are transgender."
In 2015 the DOE warned the Township High School District 211 in Palatine that unless they gave a biologically male student unfettered access to the girls' locker rooms – they would revoke US$ 6 million in federal funding.
In other words, the Obama administration committed a de facto act of extortion.
"Every school district in America has gotten the message," Tedesco told Todd Starnes of Fox News. "The DOE is starting to enforce it through threats of revoking funding. We get calls every week from parents and school administrators asking what can we do? They are caving because they know the federal government is going to come after them."
Alliance Defending Freedom alleges the Department of Education has been using Title IX to bully and intimidate school districts across the country by redefining what the term "sex" means.
Title IX is a federal statute created in 1972 and amended in 2015 that reads:
"No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
That question is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by dozens of Illinois parents after the Obama administration’s Department of Education strong-armed their school district into allowing a transgender student the right to use all girls’ locker rooms.
"The girls are mortified," said Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jeremy Tedesco, a religious liberty law firm representing some 50 families. "They are in a constant state of fear that their bodies are going to be exposed to a male in these settings. It’s a constant state of stress and anxiety for them."
At least one of the plaintiffs, a female student at the high school, was harassed and bullied because she is uncomfortable changing in the same locker room with a biological boy.
"While she was in the changing stall, other girls who were in the locker room began calling her names, including 'transphobic' and 'homophobic'," the lawsuit states.
The DOE has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois told the Chicago Tribune the lawsuit is a "sad development by groups opposed to fair and humane treatment of all students, including those who are transgender."
In 2015 the DOE warned the Township High School District 211 in Palatine that unless they gave a biologically male student unfettered access to the girls' locker rooms – they would revoke US$ 6 million in federal funding.
In other words, the Obama administration committed a de facto act of extortion.
"Every school district in America has gotten the message," Tedesco told Todd Starnes of Fox News. "The DOE is starting to enforce it through threats of revoking funding. We get calls every week from parents and school administrators asking what can we do? They are caving because they know the federal government is going to come after them."
Alliance Defending Freedom alleges the Department of Education has been using Title IX to bully and intimidate school districts across the country by redefining what the term "sex" means.
Title IX is a federal statute created in 1972 and amended in 2015 that reads:
"No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."