Transgender teen's bathroom lawsuit will get Supreme Court review
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the case of a transgender teen who claims his high school’s ban on his use of the boys’ restroom violates federal law.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the case, which challenges the restroom policy at the school in Gloucester County, Virginia, report the Washington Post and the New York Times. The SCOTUSblog case page is here and a SCOTUSblog report on the cert petition is here.
The 17-year-old teen, Gavin Grimm, identifies as male. He alleges the restroom policy violates Title IX, the federal law that bars schools that receive federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex.
A federal judge had tossed Grimm’s Title IX claim but the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the claim in April. The appeals court cited federal regulations that interpret Title IX to require schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.
The school board’s cert petition (PDF) had argued the case is not really about whether Grimm should be allowed to access the boys’ restroom, or even primarily about the proper interpretation of Title IX. Instead, the cert petition said, the case is about whether a federal agency can require schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity “in a piece of private correspondence.”
The case is Gloucester County School Board v. G.C.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “Supreme Court stay in transgender teen’s case allows school to enforce restroom restriction”
ABAJournal.com: “Transgender teen may sue over school’s restroom restriction, 4th Circuit says”
ABAJournal.com: “US tells schools to allow transgender students to use facilities matching their gender identity”
