Thirteen States Seek Nationwide Injunction Against Obama’s Bathroom Rules

Texas Leads 13-State Coalition to Block Directives Before the 2016–2017 School Year Begins

AUSTIN – The Texas Attorney General today filed a motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agencies and officials. Texas is leading a 13-state coalition against the Obama Administration’s directive requiring public schools and employers across the country to open up all intimate areas (restrooms, locker rooms, etc.) to both sexes.

“The nation’s schools, and every place of employment, are now in the crosshairs of the Obama Administration, which maintains it will punish those who do not comply with its orders,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton.  “Schools are facing the potential loss of funding for simply exercising the authority to implement the policies that best protect their students. Every employer is now being threatened for not bowing to anyone that identifies as the opposite sex.”

The Obama Administration is attempting to rewrite Congress’s use of the term “sex” in multiple federal laws to now include “gender identity.” If successful, this radical change simultaneously opens up all intimate areas within schools and workplaces to members of both sexes. Joining Texas in the filing to push back against the enforcement of these unconstitutional rules are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

To view the motion for preliminary injunction, please visit:

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/Plaintiffs_Application_for_Preliminary_Injunction_FM.pdf?cachebuster:51.