Lawmakers take steps against President Obama's transgender bathroom edict

President Barack Obama's edict regarding transgender restroom policies in schools has received opposition from a lot of people, including lawmakers.

"Everyone on both sides of this debate should be treated with respect," Rep. Luke Messer said in a statement. "And, through public discourse, I believe we can come to a solution that protects the privacy and dignity of everyone involved."

Messer has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to prevent the federal government from reducing a school district's funding over bathroom policies. The proposed "Prohibiting the Usurpation of Bathroom Laws through Independent Choice School Act of 2016 (H.R. 5275 or PUBLIC School Act) would let state and local governments have their own policies on locker room and restroom use, and that schools can have their own policies on students using these facilities based on their sex at birth.

"It shall not be unlawful under any Federal law (including title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972) for a State, or local government of a State, to enact or enforce a policy regarding the use of sex-segregated bathrooms, or sex-segregated locker rooms, of educational institutions on the basis of gender identity," it reads in part. "Federal financial assistance may not be reduced or denied on the basis that a State, or local government of a State, enacts or enforces a policy regarding the use of sex-segregated bathrooms, or sex-segregated locker rooms, of an educational institution on the basis of gender identity."

This came after the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights issued a letter to public schools that receive federal funding that they should let people use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.

According to The Christian Post, Sen. James Lankford sent a letter to Education Secretary John King last week, asking how Title IX can justify the directive, saying, "As guidance, the Dear Colleague letter purports to merely interpret existing discrimination law under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX); in reality, however, the guidance represents an abrupt departure from long standing sex discrimination policy."

A letter was also sent to King and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, signed by more than 70 House Republicans, asking them to explain how this transgender bathroom edict would be enforced.

"Americans are incensed by President Obama's blatant executive overreach," Texas Rep. Bill Flores, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, told Daily Signal. "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."

Moreover, two senators and two representatives from Oklahoma have taken steps to address the issue. Senator Brian Bingman and House Speaker Jeff Hickman introduced Senate Bill 1619 that would let students and their parents to request, based on reasons of religion, for bathrooms exclusive to their biological sex. On the other hand, Senator Anthony Sykes and Representative John Bennett signed a resolution last week to have the president, the attorney general, and the secretary of education impeached.