Democratic lawmakers, parents and disability advocates gathered in front of Norcross High School on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, to call on Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to take the state out of the Texas v. Becerra lawsuit over Section 504 disability protections. (Meimei Xu/WABE)
This story was updated on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 12:26 p.m.
Democratic legislators, disability advocates and parents are saying that a move by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to block a Biden administration rule could strip federal disability accommodations and protections.
Georgia is one of 17 states named as plaintiffs in a September 2024 suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and former Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The suit alleges the Biden administration violated the Constitution by issuing a May 2024 rule that categorizes gender dysphoria as a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This section prohibits discrimination and provides for accommodations for disabilities in programs that receive federal funding.
However, advocates say count three of the suit alleges the entire Section 504 is unconstitutional, which they argue could jeopardize established standards for disabled people.
Count three, titled “Section 504 is Unconstitutional,” argues that Section 504 violates the spending clause of Article I of the Constitution by coercing states to accept conditions made retroactively to use any and all federal money.
Among plaintiffs’ demands for relief, they request the court to “Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, unconstitutional” and “issue permanent injunctive relief against Defendants enjoining them from enforcing Section 504.”
In a statement, Carr said the lawsuit seeks to target only the Biden administration rule.
“The constitutionality of 504 was never in question. We are fighting one woke policy added by Biden for virtue signaling. The vast majority of Georgians — Rs and Ds — agree that so-called ‘gender dysphoria’ should not be treated as eligible for federal funds, as if it’s the same as Down syndrome or dyslexia or autism,” he said.
Kara Murray, a spokesperson for Carr, emphasized that the original lawsuit sought to prevent the HHS from revoking federal funds “for state’s failure to comply with Biden’s unlawfully imposed ‘gender dysphoria’ rule.”
“Any information to the contrary is false, fraudulent and a deliberate misrepresentation of the central argument of the case, and it’s being spread nationally by partisan, political groups out of California,” Murray wrote. “It’s reprehensible that a political organization would cherry-pick language from the lawsuit and take it out of context to deliberately scare families with children receiving 504 program benefits.”
Murray added that they expect the Trump administration to reverse the Biden rule, which would resolve the case. The case has been stayed, but state attorney generals and defendants need to provide an update to the court on how they will proceed by Feb. 25.
Ahead of that deadline, a group of legislators and advocates gathered outside Norcross High School on Monday to call on Carr to take Georgia out of the lawsuit.
Jenny Bell, a parent of three and a middle school teacher at an Alpharetta charter school, began her testimony by saying that she is not “an outside agitator from California who is spreading misinformation” but someone who has had experience with accommodations as a parent and a teacher.
Bell said accommodations are crucial for some students.
“My youngest son required a 504 for his ADHD. He needed that seat in the front of the classrooms, check-ins with teachers and extra time with testing,” she said. “Without extra time, he most likely would’ve been a frustrated and mediocre student who had great ideas that never left the runway, but thankfully, with accommodations in place, he is now a university honors student.”
She added that students may need accommodations under Section 504 for a variety of reasons, including preventing allergic reactions, monitoring blood sugar levels for diabetic students and allowing students with attention disorders to take more time on tests.
“These accommodations do not cost the taxpayers millions of dollars,” she said. “These protections promote equitable access to education.”
Astrid Sayeedah Ross, the principal of City of Knowledge Islamic School and a mental health advocate, said Section 504 provided mental health support to her daughter.
In addition, Brad Rhoads, a father, said these protections against discrimination have existed for around 50 years. He also noted that the continuation of these protections is “a moral imperative,” not a legal battle.
“And not once in that 50 years has anyone thought that this law was unconstitutional, until now. Why? Because the Biden administration wanted to include protections for children with gender dysphoria,” he said. “This is a war for them against pronouns. But 504 is more than just about pronouns.”
Dom Kelly, the CEO and co-founder of New Disabled South, said disability accommodations apply to everyone, not just students. Moreover, he said he and others stand “in solidarity” with transgender individuals that the lawsuit was intended to target.
“This did not have to be a political issue, and it is become one,” he said. “And it is become one on the backs of the disability community to harm trans people.”
Nonetheless, State Rep. Long Tran and other Democratic lawmakers made the case that the language of the lawsuit still puts the entire Section 504 at risk despite the intent behind the suit.
During the Monday presser, Democratic State Sen. Josh McLaurin held up a billboard showing count three of the suit.
Democratic State Sen. Josh McLaurin holds up a billboard showing count three of the State of Texas v. Becerra lawsuit at a press conference at Norcross High School on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (Meimei Xu/WABE)
“I think the attorney general realizes he has stepped in it,” he said. “He has signed a lawsuit he should not have, and what families need right now is answers and honesty, and they need a guarantee that he’s going to dismiss this lawsuit.”
This lawsuit coincides with recent nationwide efforts to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, said Democratic State Rep. Jasmine Clark.
“There have been things in place in our society that we thought were established law and established protections that are now gone,” Clark said. “So in that context, we have to take the words written on the paper very seriously when it comes to this lawsuit that our attorney general has signed onto.”
Democratic State Rep. Ruwa Romman said she hopes more Republican lawmakers will take up this issue.
“Please speak out,” she said. “The people need you. Your constituents need you, and it is so important that everybody recognizes that these things impact all of us regardless of political affiliation.”
Romman and Republican State Rep. Scott Hilton, who is secretary of the House Committee on Education, delivered opposing remarks about the lawsuit on the House floor Tuesday.
“All I’m asking is that during times like these, when people might be scared or worried about how something impacts them, that we don’t inadvertently lull them into a false sense of security, and then they are unable to prepare for what’s to come,” Romman said.
Hilton, who defended the lawsuit last week on the floor, said Tuesday that the suit is seeking to protect Section 504 from a “gender ideology movement that is trying to take away precious resources from our state’s most vulnerable.”
“There is a line in a lawsuit that the attorney general signed that does say in black and white, we want to declare it unconstitutional,” he said. “However, if anyone with any level of intellectual honesty went to dig in deeper to the entire lawsuit, spoke to the AG, spoke to educational professionals, you will quickly and easily find that all agree that no one is trying to take away the 504 program.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly named State Sen. Josh McLaurin’s title. It has been corrected.
