Mississippi plans to back the 11 other states that filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Obama administration's transgender bathroom policy at public schools, Gov. Phil Bryant said.
"Our office has talked to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office and I intend, as soon as possible, to join the lawsuit against this latest example of federal overreach," Bryant, a Republican, said Thursday in a Facebook post.
Texas is leading the lawsuit, and governors from Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Utah are also on board.
Related: States Move Quickly in Suing Over Obama Transgender Policy
The Department of Education two weeks ago ordered all of the nation's public schools to honor transgender students' bathroom of choice. But in their suit, the states say the Obama administration is turning schools and workplaces "into laboratories for a massive social experiment."
They are also challenging a memo from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that tells employers that denying workers from using a bathroom based on their gender identity amounts to sex discrimination.
The American Civil Liberties Union has labeled the suit a "political stunt."
