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SALT LAKE CITY — National and local LGBT rights organizations called out Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes on Thursday over his support of a lawsuit that it says harms transgender people.

Equality Utah and Freedom for All Americans, based in Washington, D.C., launched an online petition to tell the Republican attorney general to "stop attacking transgender people."

"A.G. Reyes is giving Utah a bad name — and we need to send the message that our state is stronger when everyone is included and protected from discrimination," the petition states.

Utah is among a dozen states that sued the Obama administration over a memo that threatened federal education funding if schools don't allow transgender students to use the restroom that matches their gender identity.

Reyes spokesman Dan Burton referred questions about the issue to the attorney general's previous statements.

"When a presidential administration wishes to change the law, it must do so appropriately. This administration could have worked with Congress. It could have challenged the constitutionality of a state or local board policy. Or it could have taken proper steps under the Administrative Procedures Act to provide notice and solicit comment from the public, including states, school boards and families. Process has a purpose," Reyes said last spring.

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