A group of 13 states are expected in court on Friday to petition a federal court judge to block President Obama's plan to allow transgender students to use public bathrooms based on their gender identity.

The proceedings are slated to take place in a Fort Worth courtroom, pitting the Justice and Education departments against the states of Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Plaintiffs Led by Republican Lawmakers

With the exception of Louisiana and West Virginia, all of the plaintiff states have Republican governors.

Back in May, the Obama administration issued a directive alerting every public school district that they would be required to allow transgender students to use bathrooms based on their chosen gender identity. Violators of the order ran the risk of losing all federal funding.

Led by Texas, a group of states immediately filed suits in protest of the proposed action.

"We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States," said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. "This goes against the values of so many people. This has everything to do with keeping the federal government out of local issues."

Second Suit Filed

Just last month, the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming all filed a similar suit in objection to the planned policy.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has publicly argued that there is "no room in our schools" for discrimination.

Earlier this month, the shorthanded Supreme Court put a federal judge's order on hold that would have allowed a Virginia high school student who was born female but identifies as male to use the boys' bathroom.

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