“You can say only a handful of fringe lawmakers are pushing this, but these measures do not come to a vote without the approval of the legislative leadership,” Kiesel said.

The lawmakers behind the bill that failed Tuesday and the resolution passed by the House on Thursday and expected in the Senate on Friday say it is President Barack Obama’s administration that has dragged transgender students — and the nation’s public schools — into politics by issuing a letter strongly suggesting that such students be allowed access to the facilities that correspond with their gender identity.

Some say they are opposed to this on religious grounds; some say they fear it will lead to more sexual assaults; and some say they believe the administration has overstepped its authority.

At Thursday’s Capitol news conference, Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Troy Stevenson said the recent transgender furor has been “10 days of chaos” that was “not about bathrooms.”

Stevenson said his organization will work to defeat supporters of the measures at the ballot box and to do it in such a way that “in many cases they won’t know who it is” who is working against them.