Barack Obama's transgender bathroom guidelines challenged by more than a dozen states

Although the guidelines do not have the force of law, states could still face a cut in federal educational funding for failure to comply

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Texas is leading the charge with a dozen other states to block a federal directive from Barack Obama to allow bathroom access to transgender students based on their gender identity.

The states will appear before a federal judge in Fort Worth on Friday to argue that the Obama administration’s directive presents “unlawful changes” in US law.

Mr Obama issued the directive in May amid an ongoing movement in mostly Southern states to require people to use bathrooms based on the gender that appears on their birth certificates. States that fail to comply with the order could face a cut in federal funding.

“Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces 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 complaint said.

Status of Transgender "Bathroom Bill" Legislation | InsideGov

However, the Department of Justice says states have no legal standing to request an injunction against the guidelines, as they do not have the force of law, Reuters reported.

Accusing the Obama administration of enforcing “at a micro level, sowing the seeds for macro results,” the 13 states fear losing billions of dollars in educational funds from the government.

The other states standing alongside Texas are Alabama, Arizona, Maine, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia. They join 10 other states in suing over the guidelines.

“Plaintiffs have identified no enforcement action threatened or taken against them as a result of defendants’ interpretations, nor have they established that the guidance documents have any binding legal effect,” the Justice Department said ahead of the hearing.

Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick immediately fired back at the White House for the May directive and repudiated what he saw as federal overreach into state issues.

“We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States,” he said. “This goes against the values of so many people. This has everything to do with keeping the federal government out of local issues.”

The federal directive came after the the Justice Department filed a complaint against North Carolina – one of the first states to pass a law to restrict the bathroom usage of transgender people – accusing the state of violating federal gender discrimination laws.

“This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens, and the laws that we, as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us.”