Tennessee is among 11 states suing the Obama administration over a federal directive about transgender students in public schools.
The challenge follows a federal directive to schools this month to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
The lawsuit accuses the Obama administration of "running roughshod over commonsense policies" that protect children. It asks a judge to declare the directive unlawful.
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."
