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Supreme Court to hear Virginia school board appeal on transgender teen case

Oct 29 2016

A sign protesting a recent North Carolina law restricting transgender bathroom access is seen in the bathroom stalls at the 21C Museum Hotel

According to The Washington Post, the justices agreed on Friday to hear a suit brought by Gloucester County, VA, challenging guidelines issued by the Department of Education earlier this year. "The school principal allowed him to use the boys bathroom, until some parents complained, and the school board adopted a policy that required students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex, or a separate single-stall restroom office". That lower court decision has been on hold, and that will be the situation until the case is decided - probably not until near the end of the court's term.

No doubt the transgender rights issue would return to the court in a future case. They do offer unisex bathrooms, but Grimm is fighting for the right to use the mens' room. Conservative justices have previously declined to revisit that ruling. Whether the court will have nine Justices by that time is still unclear because of the impasse between GOP leaders in the Senate and the Obama White House over the existing vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in April that the school board's policy violates Title IX of a 1974 federal anti-discrimination law.

With the ACLU's help, he challenged the school district's restriction as discriminatory. The decision to take the case keeps that stay in place until the case is resolved - a fact referenced by Grimm and his lawyers on Friday.

A 4-4 Supreme Court ruling would mean the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals decision would remain in place. The appeals court cited federal regulations that interpret Title IX to require schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.

Whether to allow transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity rather than their birth gender has become the latest flashpoint in the long USA battle over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

The Supreme Court has never directly ruled on transgender rights.

Gavin, a student who was born female but identifies as male, came out as a transgender boy during his freshman year of high school.

The administration's guidance on school bathrooms created a furor in several states, including Texas, where officials vowed to defy the rule.

Grimm began attending school as a boy in September 2014.

The case is Gloucester County School Board v. G.G.

Transgender students say using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity is a civil right and critical to protect their well-being. A federal judge in north Texas issued a preliminary injunction in August blocking the department's guidance.

"He has a state ID identifying him as male, and, as a result of hormone therapy, has facial hair, a deep voice and other male secondary sex characteristics", G.G.'s attorneys stated in a brief.


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