While there has been widespread reporting on the potential impact on Texas v. Becerra — a case dealing with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — some of the coverage seems to provide more critical context than others. If you read no further than this, here’s the biggest takeaway: if the Attorneys General get everything they are (explicitly) asking for in the lawsuit, Section 504 would be ruled unconstitutional (and unenforceable). Full-stop.
While there is more nuance to the case than just ruling Section 504 unconstitutional, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and his office have not been truthful about the lawsuit. When confronted with the fact that the lawsuit that Carr signed onto could destroy Section 504, he has pivoted to the position that this lawsuit is only about denying anti-discrimination protections to transgender individuals, and any assertions that suggest otherwise are untrue.
While Carr’s intent may have simply been to limit anti-discrimination protections available to transgender individuals, that intent in no way limits the other goals of the lawsuit. The lawsuit explicitly seeks to have a court “[d]eclare Section 504 . . . unconstitutional.” Regardless of your feelings toward the transgender community, regardless whether transgender identities “make sense” to you or not, regardless whether you are able to understand what it is like for your “gender identity – [your] innate knowledge of who [you] are – [to be] different from what was initially expected when [you] were born,” this lawsuit does not just seek to just deny the rights of Section 504 to people with gender dysphoria (archived link). The lawsuit seeks to prevent enforcement (i.e., what gives the law teeth) of Section 504 for everyone pertaining to any disability.
Additional information and materials on this lawsuit can be found here:
- Plain Language Explainer: Texas v. Becerra (from the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund)
- “Texas v. Becerra: What it is and how you can help….”
- “Your Child’s 504 Plan May Be in Peril”
- “Action Alert: Save Section 504”