Government Appeals Temporary Block on Transgender Rules

The government is appealing a federal judge's decision to temporarily block an Obama administration directive on bathroom rights for transgender students in public schools nationwide.

A one-page filing Thursday asks the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a preliminary injunction issued in August by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth.

Texas and 12 other states asked O'Connor to halt the directive after the federal government told public schools in May that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with the gender they identify with.

O'Connor's injunction froze the directive, but more on procedural than policy grounds.

Still, It's since been cheered by top Republicans in Texas and elsewhere, who argue that the Obama administration was seeking to undermine school privacy safeguards.