Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American attorney who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since January 20, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the third governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair. He is also the first disabled governor in Texas history.
A federal judge in Texas has ruled that employers in the state can ignore portions of the Biden administration’s guidance on equal treatment of LGBTQ+ workers, particularly as it regards transgender ones.U.S.
District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Donald Trump, ruled this week that guidance on implementing the Bostock v.
Clayton County ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination is illegal, went too far. Employers may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but the ban does not extend to “all correlated conduct,” he ruled.They do not have to allow workers to use the restrooms corresponding to their gender identity or dress according to that identity, nor do they have to use employee’s preferred pronouns, he wrote.The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a longtime opponent of LGBTQ+ equality and author of the opinion that parents should be investigated for child abuse if they let their children receive gender-affirming health care.
Paxton filed the suit in September 2021, naming the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as defendant.He amended the suit to also name the U.S.