Update: Eleven states sued the Obama administration on Wednesday over the federal government's requirement that public schools accommodate transgender students in school restrooms, according to Reuters.
Texas, the lead plaintiff in the case, is joined by Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, and Georgia, as well as the Arizona Department of Education and Maine Gov. Paul LePage. All except Louisiana and West Virginia are helmed by Republican governors.
The lawsuit accuses the federal government of using public schools as a “social experiment,” and overstepping bounds in their orders to allow students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
“Defendants have 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 read.
This story was originally published on May 13, 2016.
The Obama administration is taking a strong stand against LGBTQ discrimination. And its latest move will affect public schools across the entire country.
The White House is issuing a declaration Friday regarding public schools and bathroom access, according to The New York Times. The mandate will tell public schools to let students use the restrooms of their choice. The government's letter will be sent to public school districts Friday, The Times reported.
"No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus," Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said in a statement provided to T he Times. "We must ensure that our young people know that whoever they are or wherever they come from, they have the opportunity to get a great education in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, and violence."
The news comes after North Carolina and the U.S. Justice Department sued each other over the state's anti-LGBTQ bill. Mississippi has also enacted a similar LGBTQ discrimination law.
While the letter doesn't carry a force of law, schools that don't follow the directive could face lawsuits and lose their government funding, The Times noted.
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