Richard Wolf

USA TODAY

The Supreme Court sided Wednesday with a Virginia school board opposed to the Obama administration's directive that transgender students be allowed their choice of public bathrooms.

The justices blocked a federal appeals court ruling against the Gloucester County School Board while they consider whether to hear the case. If they do, it would mark the high court's first foray into the issue of transgender rights.

The case was brought by a transgender student, Gavin Grimm, who contested the school district's refusal to let him use the boys' bathroom. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in his favor in April but put its ruling on hold so the school board could appeal. The Supreme Court's order keeps the old rules in place.

The court's four conservative justices were joined by Justice Stephen Breyer in blocking the transgender student's earlier victory. The three other liberal justices said they would have denied the school board's request.

The battle over so-called bathroom bills has played out in many states as Republican lawmakers seek to force students to use facilities that correspond to their gender at birth, and transgender students fight for the right to follow their gender identity.

Just last week, more than 100 pastors in the midwest sent a letter to Ohio elected officials and school districts, calling for schools to ignore a May mandate from the U.S. Department of Education allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.

The letter states the pastors believe "there is no authority except from God" and the U.S. Department of Education's directive to school districts "defies objectivity and logic." It also "jeopardizes the privacy and safety of vulnerable women and children," the pastors said.

In early July, 10 states sued the federal government over rules requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms conforming to their gender identity, joining a dozen other states in the latest fight over LGBT rights.

The July lawsuit was filed in federal court in Nebraska and included nine other states: Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

The filing comes after 11 states sued in May over the same Obama administration directive. North Carolina officials also sued the federal government in May over the same issue. Vast sums of federal funding are at stake: Money could be withheld from public schools that refuse to comply with the federal directive.