Ten more states filed a lawsuit Friday to block the federal government from requiring that schools allow transgender students access to bathrooms matching their gender identity. Nearly two dozen states are now suing over the new rules protecting transgender students. Samantha Michaels reports:
The lawsuit filed Friday is being brought by the states of Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming. They argue the Obama administration's directive was an overreach and a misinterpretation of Title IX.
"The recent action by these two federal agencies to require showers, locker rooms, and bathrooms to be open to both sexes based solely on the student's choice, circumvents this established law," Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson wrote in a statement.
In May, the Departments of Education and Justice issued guidance stating that prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity is a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Eleven other states, plus the Arizona Education Department and governor of Maine, have already sued the federal government over the guidance, including Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi.