Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel (left) on Tuesday joined a lawsuit with 10 other states opposing rules from President Barack Obama's administration on bathrooms for transgender students. Credit: Journal Sentinel files; AP

SHARE

By of the

Madison— The State of Wisconsin and 10 other states launched a lawsuit Wednesday against new bathroom rules for transgender students that were issued by President Barack Obama's administration.

It's only the latest legal challenge from Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel and other Republican state officials who have also sued over Obama policies such as the Affordable Care Act and rules on carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.

"President Obama's attempts to rewrite the laws of our country without congressional consent and approval are not going to be tolerated by the State of Wisconsin," Schimel said in a statement. "After discussing with Governor Walker, I have decided to join my colleagues from across the country in challenging the Obama Administration's latest power grab, which will have a significant impact on Wisconsin."

The states joining Wisconsin in the lawsuit are lead plaintiff Texas, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia.

State Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) blasted the action and noted that Schimel had won legislative approval last year for the creation of a solicitor general post to help with high-profile cases such as this one.

"The Department of Justice has really become this right-wing law firm that brings these lawsuits," Taylor said. "I'm alarmed by it. ... This is political litigation. This is not about lowering crime or making the public safer."

Because the Department of Justice does not generally track its costs or staff hours spent on such legal cases, it's difficult to put a price tag on them.

In Wisconsin, the attorney general cannot normally bring a legal challenge like this one without authorization from the governor or lawmakers.

"Governor Walker granted the request as this is yet another example of President Obama's unlawful use of executive power," Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.

But there was no direct statement Wednesday from Walker as was often the case with past legal challenges to the Obama administration. The governor has expressed openness to Wisconsin limiting the bathroom options for transgender students but has stopped short of saying he would sign such a bill.

State schools Superintendent Tony Evers, an ally of Democrats in the Legislature, also kept his comments vague. He said in a statement that schools should decide the transgender bathroom issue locally but that the federal guidance can be an "important component" of those decisions.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration sought to ensure that transgender students in public schools are allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify. Critics want students to only use bathrooms corresponding to their gender at birth.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a directive to public schools saying they must let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their preferred gender identity.

The guidance says public schools need to comply with the wishes of transgender students even if school records list a different gender or sex for the pupil. The directive to districts receiving federal tax dollars sought to clarify the expectations for schools as school boards and administrators apply existing sex discrimination rules known as Title IX to this emerging issue.

Also this month, the U.S. Justice Department sued North Carolina over a bathroom access law that it said violates the rights of transgender people. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton have both criticized the North Carolina law.

The issue stirs strong feelings, with Obama administration officials and other Democrats pointing to suicide attempts made by transgender students who are struggling with their identity and the reaction that it can provoke from others.

"Many of our country's leading education groups including the National PTA and the National Education Association have embraced these federal guidelines, signaling they would provide students with safe and welcoming schools," U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said.

State Rep. Tom Larson (R-Colfax) used the president's stance as a reason to question Obama's Christian faith.

"Mr. Obama has done more to destroy the Christian foundation of this country than anyone I know," Larson wrote in a letter to the editor Wednesday. "Although (the president) claims to be a Christian, such assertions are implausible since his actions consistently oppose Biblical beliefs and principles."

Larson, who is not known for outspoken stances, is retiring for health reasons. He said in a telephone interview that he chose strong language because he feels strongly that the traditional approach to bathrooms guards against immorality.

"I think (God) wrote in my heart that I shouldn't go into a women's restroom because I'd be tempted to be a pervert," Larson said.

In the lawsuit, the 11 state plaintiffs said the federal guidance would also apply to sports and dorms.

Schimel said that the federal guidance conflicts with Wisconsin law because the statutes here prohibit discrimination based on the "sex" of students but not gender or gender identity.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said that at the federal level the legal issues are far from decided.

"There's not a lot of case law," he said.

Last month, he noted, a federal appeals court in Virginia decided in favor of a transgender high school student who is seeking to use the boys' restroom instead of the girls'.

Taylor said that the bathroom fight had been intensified by Republican officials in states like North Carolina as well as Wisconsin, where legislators tried unsuccessfully last session to limit the restrooms and locker rooms available to transgender students. Taylor noted that Wednesday's lawsuit put Wisconsin in the company of mostly Southern states such as Alabama and Louisiana.

"It is very indicative of the direction where Attorney General Brad Schimel wants to move this state," Taylor said.