Carroll ISD sues Biden administration over new federal protections for LGBTQ+ students
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - The Carroll Independent School District in Southlake said it is the first school district in the nation to sue the Biden administration over extended protections for LGBTQ+ students.
The lawsuit comes after recent changes to the Title IX civil rights law, which bans sex-based discrimination in education.
It was updated to also ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Carroll ISD trustees claim it goes too far in adding protections for transgender students and attacks the rights of girls in the district.
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"This bureaucratic fiat prevents Carroll ISD from protecting private spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers for both girls and boys, opens girls’ sports to males, and infringes on the constitutional rights of students and staff," the lawsuit states.
Gov. Greg Abbott is one of several governors of GOP-led states also suing and has urged Texas schools to ignore the changes to Title IX.
Last year, Carroll ISD trustees also passed three new policies affecting LGBTQ+ students.
The first removed protections for LGBTQ+ students when it comes to bullying and harassment, crossing out phrases like sexual orientation and gender identity in its policy handbook.
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The district has not responded, but two community groups on Tuesday called on Carroll ISD to resolve discrimination complaints going back several years.
The next limited bathroom and locker room use to the gender on students' birth certificates. And the final policy change said teachers do not need to use students’ preferred pronouns.
The U.S. Department of Education has been investigating the district for years and earlier this month upheld complaints of civil rights violations – in particular with students who are "Black, brown and queer," activist groups told FOX 4.
Neither the district nor the DOE would comment on that investigation.