Compliance with Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities, was cited along with civil rights court rulings as the rationale for the policy.

Toby Jenkins, executive director of Tulsa-based Oklahomans for Equality, said President Barack Obama’s statements on the directive last week were not anything new. Obama was reiterating the policies federal agencies have been following for the last several years, Jenkins said.

“It could not have come at a better time for our legislators, who are notorious for not taking care of the real business of government but meddling and messing and wasting time over silly things that do not move this state forward and do not protect working-class families,” he said.

Troy Stevenson, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, an Oklahoma City-based group, put out an action alert on the issue.

“I honestly think it is a distraction,” he said. “I think the Legislature is not able to balance the budget, can’t right the ship and can’t even pass revenue bills sitting in front of them to fund mental health, yet they want to use little kids using the bathroom as a distraction,” he said.