A group of 73 Republican congressmen is repudiating President Obama’s order compelling public schools nationwide to permit restroom and locker room access on the basis of gender identity, rather than biological sex.
In the letter, which was authored by North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker and will be sent to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Education Secretary John King on Thursday, the House members call into question the constitutionality of Mr. Obama’s unilateral order, which forces schools to choose between federal education funds and the ability to regulate intimate facilities as they see fit.
“Americans are incensed by President Obama’s blatant executive overreach,” the letter says, the Daily Signal reported. “Now they are threatening school funding over an issue that should rightfully be left to the states. Their actions are politically motivated and Congress has every responsibility to challenge them.”
The letter compels the executive agencies to “explain why schools must disregard the privacy, ’discomfort,’ and emotional strain imposed on other students during use of bathroom, showering, and changing facilities and overnight accommodations as these schools comply with this guidance.”
Mr. Obama issued the “guidance” on Friday, several days after the U.S. Department of Justice sued North Carolina over a law regulating public facilities on the basis of gender identity, rather than sex, which the agency said violates federal civil rights law.
Mr. Walker argues the agency is misinterpreting Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which nowhere mentions “gender identity,” only prohibiting discrimination in education on the basis of “sex.”
The letter, which had garnered 73 signatures by Wednesday evening, asks for a response from the department heads by May 23.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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