MONTGOMERY – Alabama Attorney General Steven T. Marshall announced Friday that Alabama and 12 other states have won the battle to protect student privacy after the Trump administration recently rescinded a federal directive that schools must allow student access to restrooms and locker rooms regardless of students’ gender, and the U.S. Justice Department dropped its appeal of a nationwide injunction blocking enforcement of the now rescinded federal directive.
“I am pleased to announce that Alabama has officially won the battle in protecting the privacy of our students and upholding the rights of our local schools to oversee student safety,” said Attorney General Steven T. Marshall.
“Alabama was one of 13 states to successfully challenge the unlawful federal student privacy directive last year, ultimately securing a nationwide injunction against the directive. School administrators, teachers and parents should hold the right to determine policies governing student access to intimate areas like restrooms and locker rooms, not federal bureaucrats who seek to rewrite the law,” Attorney General Marshall added.
On February 22, the Trump administration rescinded the Obama administration’s “significant guidance letter” on school restroom and locker room access and on Thursday the U.S. Justice Department announced its decision to drop its appeal of the August 22, 2016, nationwide injunction of the federal directive. As a result of the federal actions, today Alabama and the 12 other states dismissed their lawsuit against the federal government.
