Less than four months ago, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had concluded that the transgendered are among the classes of persons protected, unbeknownst to the framers of the legislation at the time, by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Tuesday’s press release announcing the filing of a lawsuit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University reiterated the new discovery, noting that Justice “takes the position that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination is best read to extend the statute’s protection to claims based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status.” But as the press release also makes clear, the fact that this novel interpretation has only existed for four months will not stop Justice from suing institutions that were operating under a different set of rules for the intervening half century.

The press releases lays out the facts of the case as follows: