The transgender community says it's a matter of human rights, but they face high-profile opposition in Nebraska.
The Obama Administration has directed schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom, where they feel most comfortable.
Top state officials vow to fight that plan.
Governor Pete Ricketts says it's not solely about preventing transgendered students from sharing bathrooms with the sex they identify with.
He says it's about standing up to a federal government that continues to impede state and local laws.
Others we spoke with say it's not that simple.
Attorney Joni Stacy says the guidelines released by the department of education last week shouldn't be controversial, because they are simply a reference to civil rights laws from the 1970s, which protects students from discrimination.
"It is a civil rights issue,” Stacy said. “It's a human rights issue and they do have the support of every major medical and mental health association in the country that's in support of gender identity being a real medical condition.”
Governor Ricketts is among parents who says they're not comfortable with their kids sharing a bathroom with someone who's transgendered.
Rickett's has three teenage children.
"As a parent, I would be very concerned if someone of the opposite gender was trying to use the same bathroom as my child,” Ricketts said. “Here is a case where we're thinking about the privacy rights of the vast majority of students"
Ricketts says he opposes the department of education guidelines, not only because of who uses what bathroom, but because he is sick of the federal government making local decisions.
"I said this to local school boards as well, I urge you to not be bullied by this federal administration,” the Governor said. “This is the way the Obama Administration wants to operate. They want to do things they want to do without going through the proper process.”
Some parents we've talked with say they're concerned that someone will use the guidelines to pose as a transgendered student, to victimize people of the opposite sex.
"It just doesn't happen,” Stacy said. “There have been more than 200 municipalities across the country that have had anti-discrimination ordinances in place for more than 20 years, and the scenario you just talked about, just doesn't happen.”
Despite Governor Ricketts saying the education guidelines don't have to be followed because they are not a laws, schools that don't follow them could potentially lose federal funding.
A parent of three and grandparent of 12, who each attended Omaha Public Schools, says he's on the fence.
"I'm not racist, I'm not against anything,” said Bill Kunkel “I love everybody, but I really don't know how to answer it.”
