AG Files Amicus Brief Defending Using Sex-Segregated Restrooms in Public Schools

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General 

AUSTIN – (News Release) Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an Indiana-led amicus brief with the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit defending the privacy and safety of boys and girls using sex-segregated restrooms in public schools. In this case, a federal district court barred a school district from requiring school restrooms separated by sex, concluding that the separation violated federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution. The school district appealed, and Attorney General Paxton filed his brief in support of the district, urging the Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court’s decision.  

 “Both before and after the enactment of Title IX 50 years ago, schools have divided bathrooms by sex without offending that statute—or the Equal Protection Clause for that matter,” the brief reads. “Title IX expressly permits sex-segregated restrooms, and this Court and the Supreme Court have concluded, unsurprisingly, that sex-separate facilities withstand scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause based on the privacy interests at stake.” 

 Read the amicus brief here.