Bennett, House Readying Bill To Address POTUS’ Transgender Overreach

STATEMENT: Rep. Bennett Says Legislature Working on Bill to Protect Schools from Obama Directive on Transgender Bathrooms

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) issued the following statement today confirming that lawmakers have filed a bill and a resolution that would protect Oklahoma’s children and women. Bennett said the Obama Administration has ordered a directive to public schools that is unconstitutional and illegal. The administration is using the threat of loss of Title IX federal funding to allow children to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify. The lawmakers intend to bring the bill up for consideration before the legislative session adjourns on May 27. Bennett said he will also be sending to his local school districts a letter from his office together with a letter from the Attorney General’s Office advising schools that they do not have to follow the directive:

“This directive to schools is not only unlawful, but the breadth of overreach in this instance by the Obama Administration is shocking – and this from an Administration that is incapable of doing anything but overreaching into the private lives of individuals and the sovereign rights of states. Oklahomans are simply not going to stand for this utter nonsense. Our phones and emails are being flooded by citizens who are enraged by this president’s attempt to use our children as pawns in a liberal agenda. This directive is Biblically wrong, a violation of our state’s sovereignty and it is a serious public safety issue. We are working on legislation that would protect our citizens by not requring our kids and women to share a facility with anyone who ‘identifies’ as a gender that they were not born. We are going to do everything we can to protect our women and children.”

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