Cruz Slams Obama for Transgender Bathroom Directive: 'Dangerous Departure' From 'Common Sense

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) skewered President Barack Obama for his administration's transgender bathroom directive, saying in a statement that it represented a "dangerous departure" from "common sense" that "must not stand."

“America has woken up to yet another example of President Barack Obama doing through executive fiat what he cannot get done through our democratic process," said Cruz, a former candidate for the Republican nomination. "Today, he decreed that schools across the country must allow men and boys to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities previously reserved for girls. Not only is this decree contrary to law, but it makes no sense."

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) waits to speak during a speech at the Heritage Foundation January 28, 2014 in Washington, D.C. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

"There is a reason that we give girls access to their own changing rooms: It is for their privacy, safety, and security," he added. "The administration’s dangerous departure from that common-sense norm must not stand."

The sharp statement came the same day the Departments of Justice and Education sent a letter to schools directing the institutions to allow transgender youth to use whichever bathroom matched the gender identify of the student.

Cruz, who previously served as the Texas solicitor general, said he had "handled far too many cases of child molesters" to allow the administration to permit "grown men or boys to be in bathrooms with little girls." He urged schools to ignore the Obama administration's directive.

“I encourage every school superintendent, school board, and parent across this nation to disregard this barely veiled threat from the White House aimed at overturning the utterly reasonable practice of preventing men and boys from entering girls’ restrooms and changing rooms," he said.

“As a father of young girls, I wouldn't want my daughters being forced to change in the same room as men and boys. It’s that simple," Cruz added. "And parents across this country shouldn’t have to tolerate it either.”

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