President Obama is opening a new front in the culture wars over gay and transgender rights — just in time for the 2016 elections.

Guidance from the Departments of Justice and Education that public schools should allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity, and a separate civil rights lawsuit against a North Carolina transgender law, firmly put the White House and the Democratic party at the forefront of transgender rights.

The two dramatic moves provoked cries of support from the left and fury from the right, which decried the actions as further examples of executive overreach and social engineering they see as typical of Obama’s rule.
“If President Obama thinks he can bully Texas schools into allowing men to have open access to girls in bathrooms, he better prepare for yet another legal fight,”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

Few saw a national fight over transgender rights emerging this summer.

Obama’s actions would have been far-fetched as recently as 2012, when he had still not formally backed same-sex marriage.

But four years later, the White House and Democrats appear to be eager for the fight.

“It’s pretty clear there is a solid majority of Americans who want equal protection for trans people,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. “I think [Obama] is trying to push the Republicans on the issue.”