The Obama administration has “conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights”, the lawsuit reads.
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The states that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Texas’ lieutenant governor Dan Patrick said his state was prepared to forfeit $10bn of federal public school funding in defiance of the decree. “Now, he’s gone so far as to attack transgender youth, whom he has a responsibility to protect as Attorney General”, said HRC Communications Director Jay Brown.
The U.S. Education and Justice Departments said in a letter sent to school districts nationwide that while its guidance carried no legal weight, they must not discriminate against students, including based on their gender identity.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel says he chose to join the lawsuit after discussing it with fellow Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
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The Obama administration issued the new guidelines after North Carolina passed a law requiring transgender people to use public toilets that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. North Carolina and the Department of Justice sued each other earlier this month, with each taking an opposing position on whether the law violates existing federal statutes barring discrimination. Please see our terms of service for more information.
