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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Editorial: Idaho’s transgender fight sadly familiar

Idaho has decided to support the 11 states and their leaders who have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration after the U.S. Department of Education and Justice Department issued a directive on how transgender students should be treated.

On Wednesday, Gov. Butch Otter’s office said it would file a “friend of the court” brief and offer support for that lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday in a federal court in Texas.

On May 13, federal lawyers announced that schools “must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.”

This set off a firestorm of protest from conservatives who don’t support the idea that gender identity should guide decisions on such issues as bathroom use. Before that, North Carolina responded to this controversy by adopting a law that says the gender on one’s birth certificate is what matters.

The federal government’s position is that schools have an obligation “to provide transgender students equal access to educational programs and activities even in circumstances in which other students, parents or community members raise objections or concerns.”

Last year, the Idaho School Board Association issued similar guidelines, but most school districts have not adopted policies.

Washington state’s Human Rights Commission also takes the same position, and it caused an uproar in November when it adopted a “bathroom rule” that respects gender identity.

The Obama administration cited Title IX and threatened to cut off federal school funding if states don’t comply. In the past, state and local officials have capitulated when faced with a loss of funding over the treatment of transgender students, according to the Washington Post.

But the bathroom issue has blown up into a national issue, and this is an election year.

Admittedly, the feds and Washington state moved quickly on this issue – perhaps too quickly – and it has caught people off guard. However, the rules respecting gender identity are appropriate.

The protests, on the other hand, are over the top. And the fear-mongering about the potential molestation of children in public bathrooms is absurd. As we’ve said before, blaming the transgendered population for sexual predation is unfair and untrue. It’s transgendered people who are far more likely to be victims of sexual violence.

The reactionary laws being drawn up in some states that designate a birth certificate as the deciding document on bathroom choice are insulting and impossible to enforce. Those efforts reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the transgender issue.

Idaho, of all states, ought to back away from another bid at discrimination. After all, the state still allows people to be fired or evicted for being gay.

The state has already frittered away tax dollars in numerous fruitless court battles over human rights. Instead of trying to preserve discrimination against the LGBT community, it ought to back away.