[JURIST] The US Department of Justice [official website] on Friday withdrew its appeal of an injunction [opinion, PDF] preventing the Obama administration’s guidance that schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choosing. The guidance [official press release] stated that transgender students were protected under Title IX. A hearing was set for next Tuesday [CNN report] in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] to appeal the injunction granted in favor of Texas and 11 other states. On Friday, both parties filed a joint notice saying that the hearing was canceled.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has been controversial in the US. In January President Donald Trump vowed [JURIST report] to continue LGBTQ rights protections for federal workers. North Carolina has faced national focus for its “bathroom bill” [JURIST report] that requires individuals to use the public bathroom associated with the sex listed on their birth certificate. In November a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled [JURIST report] that Title VII’s protection from employment discrimination based on sex extends to sexual orientation. In June two gay men filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging a Tennessee law that protects counselors who refuse to provide services to individuals based on their religious beliefs.