A hotly debated “guidance” from the U.S. government forcing schools to open their bath and locker rooms to all genders or lose federal funds is now facing a lawsuit from 11 states who are challenging the administrations right to enforce the rule.
According to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the suit was filed in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agencies and officials, which are now issuing directives requiring public schools to open up all intimate areas (restrooms, locker rooms, etc.) to both sexes.
The State of Texas’s lawsuit is being joined by the states of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
“Our local schools are now in the crosshairs of the Obama Administration, which maintains it will punish those schools who do not comply with its orders. These schools are facing the potential loss of school funding for simply following common sense policies that protect their students,” Texas Attorney General Paxton said in a press conference.
“This represents just the latest example of the current administration’s attempts to accomplish by executive fiat what they couldn’t accomplish through the democratic process in Congress. By forcing through his policies by executive action, President Obama excluded the voice of the people. We stand today to ensure those voices are heard.”
The Obama Administration has defended its action, claiming that the use of the term “sex” can be expanded to include “gender identity.” If they are successful in winning this argument in court, this change would open up all intimate areas within schools that receive federal funds to members of both sexes.
Opposition to transgender bathrooms is gaining steam, and not just in conservative circles. For example, the Family Research Council (FRC) is reporting on officials in the Grayson County school district who have been flooded by calls from angry parents.
“I can’t tell you how many calls we had, but we had more calls than we could count,” said Superintendent Kelly Wilmore.
In that county, local leaders voted unanimously to leave the bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers gender-specific.
“It wasn’t the politics of just the Republican side… it was a lot of people on the other side of the fence too [who] are really having concerns with who has access to the bathrooms,” Wilmore said. “I don’t get into politics… I work for the kids. My concerns have been safety and privacy from day one.”
Wilmore told the FRC that the school board felt secure making the move because Alliance Defending Freedom had offered to defend U.S. school districts for free.
Meanwhile, public opinion continues to weigh against the administration with a majority of Americans consistently polling against the idea of opening bathrooms to transgenders. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 65 percent of Americans agreed with a proposal by presidential candidate Donald Trump to allow bathroom policy to be set by state and local governments. Only 24 percent agreed with the administration’s position.
Pressure is also being brought on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to take Congressional action to stop the advance of these dangerous new policies.
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