The Obama administration has taken two extraordinary steps this week in their attempt to pander to so-called “LGBT Rights” activists, and both of them are getting huge backlash. From citizens, and from states.

First, Obama’s Social Justice Department announced they were filing suit against North Carolina over the state’s passage of HB2, which allows businesses to choose how they wish to operate their public bathrooms (as opposed to the Charlotte City Ordinance that required businesses to allow gender crossover in bathrooms and was the reason the state brought the bill up in the first place.)

Then, the Obama administration sent out a decree threatening public schools with loss of funding if they do not comply with his personal whim that men should be allowed in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms. A whim shared with, and no doubt celebrated by, perverts with nefarious plans who have spent years trying to get into women’s bathrooms and have built entire grotesque web industries around the video thus obtained. So much the easier, now.

North Carolina fought back with a countersuit. But they do not stand alone. Eight states, including North Carolina, have signed on to a brief to a federal appeals court asking to re-hear a case with a Virginia transgender student seeking to use the boys’ bathroom. The others are West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, and Maine.

There are also declarations being made by Governors against the administration’s obvious overreach.

As we noted, Texas is standing firm, with both Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick issuing powerful statements. As noted here, there are other such lines being drawn:

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchison advises schools to disregard Obama’s decree altogether.

As Gov., I recommend that school districts disregard @POTUS's “guidance” on gender identification in schools. >> https://t.co/mFxgtOcbml

— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) May 13, 2016

Alabama‘s Attorney General issued his own statement.

“The Obama Administration’s new guidance document is just one more example of the kind of federal overreach that we have come to expect from this White House,” Strange said in the statement. “School bathroom use is an issue that should be decided by parents, teachers, and principals — not federal bureaucrats.

“The DOJ guidance document is also wrong on the law,” the statement continues. “Title IX allows schools to have separate facilities for separate sexes. The law says ‘sex,’ not gender identity.

“If the Obama Administration tries to enforce this absurd edict, I will work with other Attorneys General to challenge it,” Strange said.

The Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has likewise vowed to work with other states through the courts.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin made a statement on Facebook.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder made a blistering statement in support of North Carolina and condemning the Justice Department:

“By inserting itself into North Carolina’s lawmaking, the Obama Justice Department is overstepping its authority in violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. It justifies this overreach by unilaterally redefining federal anti-discrimination law, something only Congress has the authority to do. We saw this on the local level in February when the full force of the federal government was unleashed in a similar way on the city of Ferguson. The DOJ told Ferguson officials they could either accept an agreement the city couldn’t afford, or fight a lawsuit they couldn’t afford.

“Now, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her DOJ cohorts are threatening action against North Carolina for the ‘crime’ of wanting to designate bathrooms in government buildings for men and women only. If the federal government can force states to bow to its command over bathroom policies, is there anything beyond its reach?

“I stand with North Carolina and Gov. Pat McCrory, and I urge Attorney General Chris Koster and Gov. Jay Nixon to stand up to this federal abuse of power. This issue goes way beyond North Carolina. It is an unprecedented assault on our privacy and safety. This DOJ will not stop in North Carolina. By targeting this one state, the Obama Administration has telegraphed what it intends to do to any state that tries to protect its residents’ right to privacy against a far-left radical agenda.”

North Carolina, West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Maine, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Alabama. That’s 12. So far.

See more at IJReview, Top Right News, and The Federalist Papers, and the Worcester Telegram.