More GOP states challenge federal rules protecting transgender students

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Seven more Republican states are suing to challenge a new federal regulation to protect transgender student rights. The GOP lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Missouri and Oklahoma, but Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota are also plaintiffs in the Missouri case. The legal maneuvers mark the latest attempts to halt the new regulation under Title IX. The new rules spell out that Title IX bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The lawsuits argue that the rules go beyond the scope of the 1972 anti-discrimination law. They come as Republicans rally around laws limiting transgender youth rights, including measures that could be invalidated by the new federal regulations.