On May 13, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education reiterated that the nation’s civil-rights laws prohibit public schools from discriminating against transgender students. Thus, transgender students must be allowed to use the restrooms and participate in the activities designated for the gender with which they identify.

Today, eleven states—Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Texas to challenge the government’s authority to protect these students’ civil rights.

When Americans United learned of this suit, our legal team responded, ready to defend transgender students against this assault on their basic rights and their dignity.

Americans United’s legal director, Richard B. Katskee, had this to say:

“Discrimination has no place in our public schools or in our laws. Transgender students have the right to be safe, secure, and equally respected at school. That means having the same right as all other children to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify. Americans United and its legal team stand ready to defend this important legal right for all our nation’s children. The attempt by states to shun transgender students or to treat them as second-class citizens cannot stand.”

Read more about this lawsuit in The New York Times, or on Buzzfeed.

If you are a transgender student or a parent of a trans student, and you live in one of these states, our lawyers may be able to help you fight against these efforts.