NATION
Saturday, May 14, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 9A
States dig in against transgender directive
By JONATHAN DREW
and PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — Poli-
ticians in Texas, Arkansas and
elsewhere vowed deiance —
and other conservative states
could follow suit — after the
Obama administration told
public schools across the U.S.
on Friday to let transgender
students use the bathrooms
and locker rooms that match
their gender identity.
The federal government’s
guidance was met with tearful
praise from parents of trans-
gender students.
“It’s heartbreaking that
these kids are losing their
lives because they can’t be
accepted,” Hope Tyler, who
has a transgender son at a
Raleigh high school, said in
reference to suicides among
transgender people. “Some-
body has to speak for the
kids.”
The directive from the
U.S. Justice and Education
Departments represents an
escalation in the fast-moving
dispute over what is becoming
the civil rights issue of the
day.
One by one, conservative
political leaders thundered
against it and President
Barack Obama.
“This is the most
outrageous example yet of
the Obama administration
forcing its liberal agenda on
states that roundly reject it,”
said Mississippi Republican
Gov. Phil Bryant.
The guidance was issued
just days after the Justice
Department and North Caro-
lina sued each other a state law
requiring transgender people
to use the public bathroom
that corresponds to the sex on
their birth certiicate. The law
applies to schools and many
other places.
While supporters say the
measure is needed to protect
women and children from
sexual predators, the Justice
Department
and
others
argue the threat is practically
nonexistent and the law
discriminatory.
The guidance issued on
Friday is not legally binding,
since the question of whether
federal civil rights law
protects transgender people
has not been deinitively
answered by the courts and
may ultimately be decided by
the Supreme Court.
But schools that refuse
AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz
Passengers wait in a security line at Washington’s
Ronald Reagan National Airport, Friday.
As liers wait in
security lines, gov’t
asks for patience
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
In this photo taken Thursday, signage is seen outside a restroom at 21c
Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. North Carolina is in a legal battle over a state law that
requires transgender people to use the public restroom matching the sex on
their birth certiicate. The ADA-compliant bathroom signs were designed by artist
Peregrine Honig.
“The last time I checked, the United States is not ruled by
a king who can bypass Congress and the courts and force
school-age boys and girls to share the same bathrooms
and locker rooms.” — Phil Berger, N.C.’s Republican Senate leader
to comply could be hit with
civil rights lawsuits from
the government and could
face a cutoff of federal aid to
education.
Texas’ lieutenant governor
said the state is prepared to
forfeit billions rather than let
the Obama administration
dictate restroom policy for its
5.2 million students.
“We will not be black-
mailed by the president’s 30
pieces of silver,” Republican
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.
Rodney
Cavness,
superintendent of the Port
Neches-Groves school district
in Texas, told KFDM-TV:
“When I get that letter, I’ll
throw it away.”
Similarly, GOP Gov. Asa
Hutchinson of Arkansas said
schools should disregard the
directive, which he derided as
“social engineering.”
Governors and top leaders
in other conservative states
railed against the guidance
but stopped short of telling
schools to ignore it.
“The last time I checked,
the United States is not ruled
by a king who can bypass
Congress and the courts and
force school-age boys and
girls to share the same bath-
BRIEFLY
General is irst
woman to lead
top-tier U.S.
combat command
PETERSON AIR
FORCE BASE, Colo.
(AP) — Air Force Gen.
Lori J. Robinson on Friday
became the irst woman
to lead a top-tier U.S.
warighting command
when she took charge of the
North American Aerospace
Defense Command and
U.S. Northern Command in
Colorado.
Robinson — one of just
two female four-star generals
in the Air Force — was “the
clear and obvious choice,”
said Defense Secretary
Ash Carter, who attended
the change of command
ceremony in a vast hangar
at Peterson Air Force Base.
Outside, a row of cannons
ired a 19-gun salute.
Carter praised Robinson’s
extensive experience and
her skill as a strategic
thinker capable of making
split-second, life-and-death
decisions. Her promotion
shows the U.S. has female
oficers qualiied for the
most senior positions, he
said.
Robinson is an
inspiration to female cadets
at the nearby Air Force
Academy, said Academy
Superintendent Michelle
Johnson, a three-star general
and the irst woman to head
the school. “They appreciate
seeing somebody that they
can aspire to,” Johnson said
after the ceremony.
Robinson’s family
has deep roots in the Air
Force. Her husband, David
Robinson, is a retired
two-star general and was
a pilot in the Thunderbirds
demonstration team. A
daughter, 2nd Lt. Taryn
Ashley Robinson, was
fatally injured in a pilot
training crash months after
graduating from the Air
Force Academy. She died in
January 2006, four weeks
before her 23rd birthday.
People who know
Robinson describe her as
the personiication of a
new generation of leaders,
someone who understands
that the Air Force has
a broad role in space,
cybersecurity and drones,
not just lying and ighting.
rooms and locker rooms,”
North Carolina’s Republican
Senate leader Phil Berger
said.
And Kentucky Gov. Matt
Bevin said: “It is dificult to
imagine a more absurd federal
overreach into a local issue.”
However,
Democratic
Govs. Peter Shumlin of
Vermont and Jay Inslee of
Washington praised the
Obama directive, saying it
was consistent with their own
policies.
“I applaud the Obama
administration for estab-
lishing policies that will better
provide all our children an
opportunity to thrive,” Inslee
said.
The federal guidance may
portend more court ights over
transgender bathroom access.
Already, oficials from
eight states — West Virginia,
Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska,
Texas, Utah, Maine and
North Carolina — signed
on to a brief in recent days
asking a federal appeals court
to re-hear a case in which it
sided with a Virginia trans-
gender student seeking to use
the boys’ bathroom.
The new guidance says
public schools must treat
transgender students in
a way that matches their
gender identity, even if their
education records indicate a
different sex.
Some school systems
around the country already
accommodate
transgender
students when it comes to
bathroom use.
Nearly half the high schools
in the 53,000-student Seattle
district have gender-neutral
restrooms, and students can
also use the bathrooms in the
nurses’ ofice, spokeswoman
Stacy Howard said.
The National School
Boards Association has
published guidelines for its
members in dealing with
transgender students. It stops
short of telling them exactly
what to do, instead advising
them to work with their attor-
neys to determine the best
course amid a “shifting legal
landscape.”
Francisco Negron, chief
attorney for the organization,
said there is a “disconnect”
between what is happening
in various states and what
the federal government is
demanding, “and school
districts are caught in the
middle.”
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Facing a growing backlash
over extremely long waits at
airport security, Homeland
Security Secretary Jeh
Johnson asked liers “to be
patient” as the government
takes steps to get them onto
planes more quickly.
Travelers across the
country have endured
lengthy security lines, some
snaking up and down escala-
tors, or through food courts,
and into terminal lobbies. At
some airports, lines during
peak hours have topped
90 minutes. Airlines have
reported holding planes at
gates to wait for passengers
to clear security.
Johnson said Friday that
the government is working
to ease the lines, although
travelers should expect
to wait as they travel this
summer. Whatever steps
TSA takes, Johnson said, it
won’t neglect its duty to stop
terrorists.
“Our job is to keep the
American people safe,”
Johnson told reporters at a
news conference. “We’re
not going to compromise
aviation security in the face
of this.”
The
Transportation
Security
Administration
has fewer screeners and
has tightened security
procedures. Airlines and
the TSA have been warning
customers to arrive at
the airport two hours in
advance, but with summer
travel season approaching
even that might not be
enough.
Airlines are expecting
a record number of liers
this summer, meaning
more
passengers
and
bags to screen. Johnson
said TSA is working with
airlines to enforce limits on
carry-on bags and their size.
Passengers often over-pack
carry-ons to avoid paying
the $25 checked bag fee
most airlines charge. Two
U.S. senators this week
suggested that airlines
should drop those fees. But
that doesn’t appear to be a
solution either.
The TSA still scans
checked luggage. And
even that might not ease
checkpoint problems. On
Thursday, a video surfaced
of giant lines at Chicago’s
Midway airport. Southwest
Airlines — which is the
only U.S. airline that
doesn’t charge for checked
bags — is the predominant
airline at Midway.
In the past three years,
the TSA and Congress cut
the number of front-line
screeners by 4,622 — or
about 10 percent — on
expectations that an expe-
dited screening program
called PreCheck would
speed up the lines. However,
not enough people enrolled
for TSA to realize the antic-
ipated eficiencies.
Congress this week
agreed to shift $34 million
in TSA funding forward,
allowing the agency to pay
overtime to its existing
staff and hire an extra 768
screeners by June 15 to
bring it up to the congres-
sionally mandated ceiling
of 42,525.
BUTTE CHALLENGE
THANK YOU
A special thank you to everyone who helped with the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald 17th
Annual Butte Challenge 5 & 10k Walk & Run. Each of you had a part in the success of this event.
We should all be proud to be living in such a wonderful community!
Sheriff Joe Arpaio
found in
contempt of court
PHOENIX (AP) — A
judge found the longtime
sheriff of metro Phoenix in
contempt of court Friday
for disobeying his orders
in a racial proiling case,
bringing the lawman who
calls himself “America’s
Toughest Sheriff” a step
closer to a possible criminal
contempt case that could
expose him to ines and even
jail time.
The ruling Friday marked
one of the biggest legal
defeats in the six-term career
of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is
known for cracking down on
illegal immigration, and was
expected to lead to greater
court oversight of his ofice.
A hearing will be held May
31 to examine whether he
will face a criminal contempt
case.
Two months ago, Arpaio
made national news by
showering his support on
Republican presidential
front-runner Donald Trump,
then campaigning for him
ahead of Arizona’s primary.
Trump even invoked
Arpaio’s name in his calls
for tougher immigration
enforcement.
The 83-year-old Arpaio,
who is seeking a seventh
term this year, and three
of his top aides “have
demonstrated a persistent
disregard for the orders of
this court.”
PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE HERMISTON HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
A&W Space Age
Advanced Orthopedics
Affordable Family
Eyewear
American Printing
Banner Bank
Big 5
Big River Golf Course
Cell Fix
City of Hermiston
Columbia Bank
Community Bank
Columbia Court Club
Cottage Flowers
Desert Dental - Ryan
Wieseler DMD
Desert Lanes
East Oregonian
Eastern Oregon Physical
Therapy
Echo Hills Golf Course
Express Employment
First Community Credit
Union
Good Shepherd
Medical Center
Greg’s Sleep Center
Heller & Sons, Inc.
Hermiston Herald
Jones, Greg DMD
Kopacz Nursery
Larson, Jeremy, DMD
Les Schwab - Hermiston
Lifeways
Lucky Endz Gifts
Oxford Suites - Hermiston
Papa Murphy’s
Pendleton Country Club
Rick’s Car Wash
Runner’s Soul
Safeway
Sanitary Disposal, Inc.
Sears - Hermiston
60 Minute Photo
Third Day Creations
Tom Denchel
Umatilla County Fair
Umatilla Electric Co-op
Wal-Mart - Hermiston
Westwinds Nursery
Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe
Thank you to our technical T-Shirt sponsors: Eastern Oregon Physical Therapy
and Advanced Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute.
Thank you to Inflatable Fun Gym for donating a bounce house.
Also, thank you to our volunteers: Stacey & Colby Lerten, Kathy Bei, Steve, Audra &
Natelie Workman, Dana Tassie, Kathy Otnes, Shannon Paxton & Gary West for donating
their time to make this such a great community event. The Hermiston High School Cross
Country team is very grateful.