DALLAS, TEXAS/RALEIGH, N.C., Feb 12, 2017: President Donald Trump's administration is stepping back from a request made by the Obama administration in an ongoing lawsuit over bathroom rights for transgender students in public schools.

The Department of Justice on Friday withdrew a motion asking that a temporary injunction blocking Obama administration guidance on the issue only apply to the states suing the federal government.

Texas and 12 other states are challenging the guidance, which directs public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. A federal judge temporarily blocked the directive nationwide last year.

The Obama administration asked that the directive only be put on hold in the 13 states while it appealed. A hearing on that request was set for Tuesday, but Friday's filing asked that the hearing be canceled, saying the parties are "currently considering how best to proceed in this appeal."

Meanwhile, a massive crowd energized in opposition to Trump and to a state law limiting LGBT rights streamed into North Carolina's capital in Raleigh for an annual civil rights march on Saturday.

The "Moral March on Raleigh" was led by the North Carolina NAACP for an 11th year. Participants carried signs promoting issues from gerrymandering and immigration to public education.

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Raleigh police don't provide crowd estimates. Event organizers predicted 20,000 people. The surface area that the crowd covered neared the march's previous peak from 2014.

Saturday's protesters also want to see a repeal of House Bill 2, which limits LGBT rights and which bathrooms transgender people can use. (VOA)