100+ Pastors to Ohio School Officials: Ignore Obama's Transgender Bathroom Directive
Over 100 pastors recently signed on to an open letter to Ohio officials encouraging them to ignore President Barack Obama's controversial transgender directive for public schools.
Earlier this year, President Obama issued a directive to public schools across the country to allow transgender students to use the restrooms of their choice rather than their biological sex.
Richland Community Prayer Network gathered together 102 pastors to sign an open letter to Ohio officials including the school board and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
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"The federal government has demonstrated an open hostility to its citizens and more specifically our women and children by forcing its radical form of orthodoxy which undoubtedly will destabilize the school environment from learning," stated the letter.
"As pastors and spiritual advisers representing over one hundred congregations in Richland County, Ohio, we officially call for civil disobedience to the unlawful restroom mandate issued by the Department of Education dated May 13, 2016."
In May, Obama issued a directive telling public schools to allow transgender students to be able to use the restroom of their chosen gender identity rather than their biological sex.
In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Obama argued that such a move was necessary to protect the dignity of transgendered individuals.
"We're talking about kids, and anybody who's been in school, been in high school, who's been a parent, I think should realize that kids who are sometimes in the minority — kids who have a different sexual orientation or are transgender — are subject to a lot of bullying, potentially they are vulnerable," said Obama.
"I think that it is part of our obligation as a society to make sure that everybody is treated fairly, and our kids are all loved, and that they're protected and that their dignity is affirmed."
The directive has prompted much opposition from political conservatives as well as a lawsuit filed by several states arguing that the directive is an example of federal overreach.
Soon after the directive was issued, a group of 11 states filed a lawsuit challenging the federal guidance in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Those 11 states were Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Maine.
For its part, Ohio joined a separate lawsuit with nine other states that was filed in July. Led by Nebraska, states in this litigation included Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
"[Obama's directive] supersedes local school districts' authority to address student issues on an individualized, professional and private basis," stated Nebraska's Office of the Attorney General.
"When a federal agency takes such unilateral action in an attempt to change the meaning of established law, it is incumbent upon those who want to maintain the rule of law to pursue legal clarity in federal court in order to enforce the rule of law."
The Christian Post reached out to the Ohio Department of Education regarding the matter, but they responded that they could comment due to it being tied to pending litigation.
The Richland Community Prayer Network was also contacted by CP, but they did not return comment by press time.
