Ten More States Sue Obama Administration Over Transgender Bathroom Directive

Ten more states are taking legal action against the Obama Administration for its recent transgender bathroom directive, saying that the federal government can't force schools to allow transgender students to use the restroom or locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity.

Nebraska, South Carolina, Montana, Ohio and Michigan are some of the states that are joining Texas and in battling the directive that could be used to take federal funding from schools who do not accommodate transgender students.

This means that once a parent or legal guardian says a student identifies with a different gender, the school has to treat them as that gender.

Under Title IX, not making this accommodation would be discrimination.

The lawsuit filed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska says the Obama administration's mandate was attempt to change federal civil rights laws, which were not intended to be applied for transgender people, Reuters reports.

"It's putting school districts in a terrible position," said Doug Peterson, Nebraska's attorney general, who took the lead on the lawsuits. "It's trying to push a certain agenda through our school systems, and we need to simply stand up and say this does not make sense."

"When a federal agency takes such unilateral action in an attempt to change the meaning of established law, it leaves state and local authorities with no other option than to pursue legal clarity in federal court in order to enforce the rule of law," he said.

States challenging the administration have filed separate lawsuits making similar claims. As the cases move up to  federal courts, the chances of winning increase.

So far, Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, Nebraska, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, Wisconsin, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Arizona,  and Maine are all states that are now plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the federal government.