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| Virginia school board takes transgender bathroom case to supreme court | Virginia school board takes transgender bathroom case to supreme court |
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| A Virginia school board that has been ordered to let a transgender boy use the boys’ bathroom at his high school asked the US supreme court to block the order, marking the first time justices have been asked to wade into the growing controversy over transgender peoples’ access to public facilities. | A Virginia school board that has been ordered to let a transgender boy use the boys’ bathroom at his high school asked the US supreme court to block the order, marking the first time justices have been asked to wade into the growing controversy over transgender peoples’ access to public facilities. |
| The Gloucester County school board argued that allowing a trans student to use a bathroom that didn’t correspond with his or her “biological” gender would cause irreparable harm by violating others students’ privacy. | The Gloucester County school board argued that allowing a trans student to use a bathroom that didn’t correspond with his or her “biological” gender would cause irreparable harm by violating others students’ privacy. |
| The Department of Justice and the Department of Education have both ruled that under Title IX, a federal law banning gender discrimination, schools must allow transgender students to have unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. Schools that are not in compliance risk losing millions in federal funding. | The Department of Justice and the Department of Education have both ruled that under Title IX, a federal law banning gender discrimination, schools must allow transgender students to have unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. Schools that are not in compliance risk losing millions in federal funding. |
| But a growing number of schools are defying those mandates, resulting in court battles like this one. | But a growing number of schools are defying those mandates, resulting in court battles like this one. |
| Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old transgender boy, sued the Gloucester County school board over its policy in 2015. He won a key victory in April, when the fourth circuit court of appeals allowed him to access the boys’ bathroom while his lawsuit remains ongoing. If the supreme court does not rule otherwise, he will be permitted to use the boys’ restroom when he returns to school this fall as a senior. | Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old transgender boy, sued the Gloucester County school board over its policy in 2015. He won a key victory in April, when the fourth circuit court of appeals allowed him to access the boys’ bathroom while his lawsuit remains ongoing. If the supreme court does not rule otherwise, he will be permitted to use the boys’ restroom when he returns to school this fall as a senior. |
| “The uncontroverted facts before the district court demonstrate that as a result of the Board’s restroom policy, [Grimm] experiences daily psychological harm that puts him at risk for long-term psychological harm,” one judge, Andre Davis, wrote in his concurring opinion. | “The uncontroverted facts before the district court demonstrate that as a result of the Board’s restroom policy, [Grimm] experiences daily psychological harm that puts him at risk for long-term psychological harm,” one judge, Andre Davis, wrote in his concurring opinion. |
| The ruling wasn’t the circuit court’s final word on the school’s policy. But it made the fourth circuit the highest court in the country to weigh in on the fight for trans access to spaces segregated by gender, and advocates of transgender rights greeted it as a favorable sign. | The ruling wasn’t the circuit court’s final word on the school’s policy. But it made the fourth circuit the highest court in the country to weigh in on the fight for trans access to spaces segregated by gender, and advocates of transgender rights greeted it as a favorable sign. |
| Before filing an appeal with the supreme court, the Gloucester County school board appealed to the fourth circuit to stay its ruling but it was denied. | Before filing an appeal with the supreme court, the Gloucester County school board appealed to the fourth circuit to stay its ruling but it was denied. |
| Grimm’s is just one of several fights over transgender access to public facilities that is brewing around the country. A North Carolina law, House Bill 2, that places broad restrictions on public restroom and locker room access, not just in schools, is being challenged by the federal government, several students and teachers in the state’s public school and university system. North Carolina has slapped the federal government with a countersuit. | Grimm’s is just one of several fights over transgender access to public facilities that is brewing around the country. A North Carolina law, House Bill 2, that places broad restrictions on public restroom and locker room access, not just in schools, is being challenged by the federal government, several students and teachers in the state’s public school and university system. North Carolina has slapped the federal government with a countersuit. |
| On Friday, 10 states filed suit against the Obama administration’s requirement that public schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. That lawsuit followed a similar challenge that 11 other states launched in May. | On Friday, 10 states filed suit against the Obama administration’s requirement that public schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. That lawsuit followed a similar challenge that 11 other states launched in May. |
| The schools and states against the policy argue the government’s approach is an overreach that threatens the privacy of many students in the name of accommodating a few students. The Kansas board of education, for example, said recently that local schools ought to have “flexibility … to effectively address this sensitive issue”. | The schools and states against the policy argue the government’s approach is an overreach that threatens the privacy of many students in the name of accommodating a few students. The Kansas board of education, for example, said recently that local schools ought to have “flexibility … to effectively address this sensitive issue”. |
| Central to these lawsuits is whether Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination “on the basis of sex”, bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity, including transgender identity. | Central to these lawsuits is whether Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination “on the basis of sex”, bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity, including transgender identity. |
| In Grimm’s lawsuit, the fourth circuit rejected a lower court ruling that Title IX “allows schools to maintain separate bathrooms based on sex”, where “sex” means the gender assigned at birth based on anatomy. | In Grimm’s lawsuit, the fourth circuit rejected a lower court ruling that Title IX “allows schools to maintain separate bathrooms based on sex”, where “sex” means the gender assigned at birth based on anatomy. |
| Grimm began to transition when he was a high school sophomore. He goes by his new legal name at school, and school documents identified him as male. Gloucester high school allowed Grimm to use the men’s restroom for seven weeks without incidents, according to the fourth circuit ruling. | Grimm began to transition when he was a high school sophomore. He goes by his new legal name at school, and school documents identified him as male. Gloucester high school allowed Grimm to use the men’s restroom for seven weeks without incidents, according to the fourth circuit ruling. |
| The school board only changed its policywhen parents and some adults with no children in Gloucester County schools complained, the appeals court said in its ruling. Grimm attended public meetings where these adults called him a “freak” and compared him to a dog. At the start of his junior year, the school forced him to use standalone unisex bathrooms installed specifically for him. | The school board only changed its policywhen parents and some adults with no children in Gloucester County schools complained, the appeals court said in its ruling. Grimm attended public meetings where these adults called him a “freak” and compared him to a dog. At the start of his junior year, the school forced him to use standalone unisex bathrooms installed specifically for him. |
| Grimm and those supporting him in court argue that allowing him to use facilities consistent with his gender identity is crucial to his wellbeing. “I was just trying to embrace my new freedom to be myself,” Grimm has said. Being barred from the boys’ bathroom, he said, was “humiliating”. | Grimm and those supporting him in court argue that allowing him to use facilities consistent with his gender identity is crucial to his wellbeing. “I was just trying to embrace my new freedom to be myself,” Grimm has said. Being barred from the boys’ bathroom, he said, was “humiliating”. |
| In a brief supporting Grimm’s lawsuit, a number of leading medical societies in the study of transgender health wrote: “A school that fails to support its transgender students risks severely hampering their development and long-term wellbeing. Refusing to respect and affirm a transgender student’s gender identity communicates a clear, negative message: there is something wrong with the student that warrants this unequal treatment.” | In a brief supporting Grimm’s lawsuit, a number of leading medical societies in the study of transgender health wrote: “A school that fails to support its transgender students risks severely hampering their development and long-term wellbeing. Refusing to respect and affirm a transgender student’s gender identity communicates a clear, negative message: there is something wrong with the student that warrants this unequal treatment.” |