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Kinder denounces Obama administration’s decree on transgender bathroom use

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Lt. Governor Peter Kinder had harsh words for a new decree from the U. S. Department of Education and the Obama administration that directs public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.

The directive notes that schools who do not comply with the requirement are breaking the Title IX provision which prohibits discrimination based on sex.

The months-long argument over which bathroom transgender people can use, the one consistent with their birth sex or the one with their chosen gender identity, has amplified as the Department of Justice has sued North Carolina for a bill that says transgender must use a restroom consistent with the sex on their birth certificate. North Carolina has countersued the federal government in the case.

Kinder saw the attack as more overreach from the federal government. The lt. governor spoke out on a Facebook post Thursday night, when the decision was announced.

“President Obama is abusing his authority,” he wrote. “This time he is dictating the way our local school restrooms should be used. This is the same absurdity by the Obama Administration I spoke out against earlier this week regarding North Carolina. I am outraged by this display by the radical left, and as Governor I will not stand for it. Our nation needs guidance, and it needs prayer.”

However, the ACLU came out in favor of the decision. James Esseks, the director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project, supported the Obama administration’s decision.

“With this guidance, the Education and Justice Departments are making it crystal clear what schools’ obligations to transgender students are under federal law,” he said. It’s about time schools understand that transgender students are fully protected. We owe our country’s future leaders the freedom to be themselves during these crucial and formative years.”