News

Actions

11 States Sue Over Federal Transgender Directive

Posted at 1:52 PM, May 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-26 21:12:20-04

Tennessee and ten other states have announced they’re suing the Obama administration over a new directive about transgender students in public schools.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday also included Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

Conservative states had vowed defiance since the Justice Department handed down the guidance. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said "there is no room in our schools for discrimination.”

The lawsuit has accused the Obama administration of "running roughshod over commonsense policies" that protect children. It asked a judge to declare the directive unlawful.