11 states file lawsuit challenging Obama's transgender directive

Washington, May 26: Texas and 10 other states will sue the Obama administration over a directive that forces states to adjust their policy to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. Texas’s action was announced on Twitter by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R) on Wednesday, RT online reported. The other states that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs are Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Utah, Louisia, Oklahoma, Georgia, Maine, Arizo and Maine. The filing accuses the Obama administration of “running roughshod over commonsense policies” that protect children and asks a judge to declare the move unlawful. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is expected to discuss the lawsuit in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The Education Department’s directive, which was made earlier this month, orders public schools to create policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. “No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus,” said Education Secretary John King Jr. (ians)