AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over a new directive about transgender students in public schools.

The lawsuit announced Wednesday also includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. The challenge follows a federal directive to U.S. schools this month to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

Conservative states had vowed defiance since the Justice Department handed down the guidance. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said "there is no room in our schools for discrimination."

The lawsuit accuses the Obama administration of "running roughshod over commonsense policies" that protect children. It asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry sent his comments to KPEL News:

"For too long, the Federal government has directed education policy to the detriment of Louisiana’s students. I will not allow Washington to wreak further havoc on our schools."

"The recent Obama directive regarding transgendered students puts the safety and security of all our children in jeopardy and will cost the State of Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance cost. Today's action is in the best interests of our State and its people."

"I stand with the parents, teachers, and medical experts who agree that policies, such as this coercive Obama Administration directive, are detrimental to the very children this directive is intended to help."

More From News Talk 96.5 KPEL