Attorney General Sessions Reverses Course On Policy Protecting Transgender Folks In Workplace

Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Deeply disappointing but not a surprise by any means, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that his Department of Justice has reversed course on the Obama era position that federal law bans sex discrimination in the workplace.

Going forward the DOJ’s position is that Title VII does not offer any protections for transgender individuals in the workplace.

From Reuters:

The memo sent to U.S. Attorneys’ offices on Wednesday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions says Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only prohibits discrimination on the basis of a worker’s biological sex, and not their gender identity.

Sessions rescinded a Justice Department memo from 2014 that said Title VII does protect transgender people, a position also taken by several federal appeals courts in recent years.

It was the Trump administration’s latest move to roll back Obama administration policies on LGBT issues. In August, President Donald Trump signed a memo directing the U.S. military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits, reversing a policy that allowed transgender people to serve openly.

And last month, the Justice Department appeared before a federal appeals court in Manhattan to argue that Title VII does not provide protections to gay and lesbian workers.