States dig in against directive on transgender bathroom use

Politicians in Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere vowed defiance — and other conservative states could follow suit — after the Obama administration told public schools across the U.S. on Friday to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. The federal government’s guidance was met with tearful praise from parents of transgender students. “It’s heartbreaking that these kids are losing their lives because they can’t be accepted,” Hope Tyler, who has a transgender son at a Raleigh high school, said in reference to suicides among transgender people.