OBAMA DECREE ENDANGERS STUDENTS Wisconsin must push back against this unconstitutional power grab

May 13, 2016 | News, Press Releases

Madison – Today President Obama formalized what he has been threatening for several weeks. Through a letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Education (DOE), every public school district in the country has been at least implicitly threatened with loss of federal funding if they don’t provide for transgendered students’ unfettered, unquestioned access to the restrooms and changing rooms of their choice.

Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, commented, “President Obama has once again overstepped his authority. The administration cannot unilaterally decide to change the meaning of the word sex as used in Title IX.  Congress, which established Title IX 44 years ago, and the Courts, have never defined sex to include ‘gender orientation.’ Regardless of what he thinks, President Obama is not a king.  He doesn’t get to change the law and issue decrees based on his whims and wishes. That’s not how America works.

“This issue is about the privacy, safety and dignity of all students.  With his edict today, President Obama has essentially put a price tag on the privacy and safety of students—especially female students.  He’s threatened to withhold federal funding if schools don’t conform to his extreme political agenda that includes allowing males in the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms and girls in the boys’ facilities.  This puts the privacy rights, safety and well-being of all students at risk. And what about girls who have been sexually assaulted? This decree says their fears are meaningless and should not be considered.  At a time when our society is decrying campus and date rape and rails against a so-called ‘war on women,’ you would think the government wouldn’t be interested in putting these women in situations that could easily re-traumatize them.”

Wisconsin Family Action asserts that today’s mandate is completely unnecessary.  Common-sense accommodations are called for, not a blatant usurpation of the right of states and local school districts that takes an extreme and dangerous approach.

Wisconsin Family Action calls on all Wisconsin elected officials and public school administrators to stand against this most recent dictate from President Obama and his administration.  Wisconsin schools must reject this extreme political agenda foisted on our state and our schools by an out-of-control federal government and take reasonable measures to safeguard the privacy rights and safety of all students.

Appling noted, “North Carolina has led the way on this issue and has stood firm; we need to follow their lead.”

Wisconsin Family Action is a statewide, not-for-profit organization actively strengthening, preserving
and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin.

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NORTH CAROLINA FIGHTS BACK AGAINST OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S BULLYING

May 9, 2016 | News, Press Releases

Wisconsin Family Action stands with Gov. McCrory

Madison – Today, North Carolina, under the leadership of Governor Pat McCrory (R), responded full-force to the Obama Administration’s bullying regarding the state’s recently enacted, common-sense law (H.B. 2) that protects the bodily privacy and safety of its citizens, especially women and girls.  The state filed a lawsuit today alleging that the federal government has overstepped its bounds with this “baseless and blatant overreach” in threatening to withhold millions of federal dollars to the state if the state doesn’t comply with its interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling commented, “Led by President Obama, this administration continues its pattern of capriciously circumventing Congress and making law with its outrageous and egregious declarations. This time the Department of Justice is the hammer. Fortunately for all of us, North Carolina has a courageous governor in Pat McCrory—a governor who refuses to be bullied by an out-of-control federal government.

“This issue isn’t just in North Carolina. It’s right here in Wisconsin in various municipalities and in our public schools. Representative Jesse Kremer and Senator Steve Nass authored a bill this last session to address this issue in our public schools. Unfortunately, the bill died in committee. But Rep. Kremer has made it clear, he’s coming back next session with a similar bill that will protect the bodily privacy of students in our public schools.”

The May 4 letter from the Department of Justice to Governor McCrory alleges that H.B. 2 is discriminatory.  The letter references federal Title IX education programs and funding as it relates to the University of North Carolina, which is a veiled threat of stopping the millions of dollars in Title IX funding to UNC. H.B. 2 requires, among other things, that all state employees use the restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to their biological sex as stated on their birth certificates. Title IX is generally interpreted in light of how Title VII is interpreted.

“The net result of the Obama Administration’s action will be the rewriting of Title IX without authority and thereby forcing Obama’s ‘bathroom agenda’ in schools across the country, including in Wisconsin. This is constitutionally wrong, and it is definitely not in the best interest of students. Wisconsin Family Action stands firmly with Governor McCrory against the Department of Justice’s bullying,” Appling stated.

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Wisconsin Family Action is a statewide, not-for-profit organization actively strengthening, preserving
and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin.