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12 States to Back Obama on Transgender Rights

Going against red states like Texas.

A dozen U.S. states will file a brief asserting that the federal court should not impede enforcement of Obama administration policies aimed at advancing anti-discrimination protections for transgender students and workers. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson will lead the filing. The efforts of Ferguson and others are in direct response to officials in 10 other states, including Texas and Nebraska, who sued the federal government this spring over the interpretation of civil rights laws—specifically with regards to the Department of Education's instructions that schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms which correspond to their gender identity. The states backing Ferguson include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont.