Advertisement - story continues below
The federal edict requiring schools to allow transgendered students to use the bathrooms of their choice was under fire from a number of state leaders, some of whom have already begun to push back.
Eight states — West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Maine and North Carolina — have signed on to challenge a federal appeals court ruling in a dispute in which the Obama administration used the same logic for its edict to schools as the foundation for the legal argument requiring a Virginia school to allow a transgendered student access to female locker rooms.
In addition to those states, leaders across the nation reacted to the letter Friday that told schools they must follow federal guidance or risk civil rights lawsuits and the possible withdrawal of federal aid. Here is a sampling of nine states fighting back, two of which — Texas and North Carolina — are also fighting back in the lawsuit challenging the federal action in Virginia that was a precursor to the letter to all the nation’s schools.
Advertisement – story continues below
Alabama: “The Obama Administration’s new guidance document is just one more example of the kind of federal overreach that we have come to expect from this White House. School bathroom use is an issue that should be decided by parents, teachers, and principals — not federal bureaucrats,” said the state’s Attorney General, Luther Strange. “The DOJ guidance document is also wrong on the law. Title IX allows schools to have separate facilities for separate sexes. The law says ‘sex,’ not gender identity. If the Obama Administration tries to enforce this absurd edict, I will work with other Attorneys General to challenge it.”
Arkansas: “The recent letter from the federal government providing guidance to Arkansas schools on gender identification is offensive, intrusive and totally lacking in common sense,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. “There is no recognizable problem in Arkansas on this issue. The federal government is stirring the pot and meddling in the local control and administration of our schools.”
Indiana: “The federal government has no business getting involved in issues of this nature,” said Gov. Mike Pence.
Advertisement – story continues below
Kentucky: “The federal government has no authority to interfere in local school districts’ bathroom policies,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “The president is not promoting unity. In fact, he is doing quite the opposite. He is intentionally dividing America by threatening to sue or withhold funding from our cash-strapped public schools if they do not agree with his personal opinion on policies that remain squarely in their jurisdiction.”
Mississippi: “This is the most outrageous example yet of the Obama administration forcing its liberal agenda on states that roundly reject it,” said Republican Gov. Phil Bryant.
Missouri: “President Obama is abusing his authority,” said Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. “This time he is dictating the way our local school restrooms should be used. This is the same absurdity by the Obama Administration I spoke out against earlier this week regarding North Carolina. I am outraged by this display by the radical left, and as Governor I will not stand for it. Our nation needs guidance, and it needs prayer.”
North Carolina: “The last time I checked, the United States is not ruled by a king who can bypass Congress and the courts and force school-age boys and girls to share the same bathrooms and locker rooms,” said Republican Senate leader Phil Berger.
Advertisement – story continues below
Texas: “Public schools’ restroom policies should not be shaped by federal coercion. We will not be blackmailed by the president’s 30 pieces of silver,” said Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
South Dakota: “If the president believes this should be the law, he should propose a bill to Congress,” said Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
h/t: Independent Journal
Advertisement