Transgender student takes bathroom case to federal court
A transgender high school student from Virginia is challenging his school鈥檚 restroom policy in court.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., will hear arguments Wednesday in the lawsuit brought forward by Gloucester High School junior Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male.
Bathroom access has become central in the debate over how far schools and other public facilities should go to accommodate people who are transgender. Transgender advocates say that people should be free to use the restroom designated for whichever gender they identify with most. The Obama administration has come out in support of the practice and the聽Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued to provide access to bathrooms that correspond to employees' gender identity:
All employees, including transgender employees, should have access to restrooms that correspond to their gender identity....聽Restricting employees to using only restrooms that聽are not consistent with their gender identity, or聽segregating them from other workers by requiring聽them to use gender-neutral or other specific聽restrooms, singles those employees out and may聽make them fear for their physical safety.
But opponents say that blurring the lines between gender designations for restrooms could make it easier for predators to access bathrooms of the opposite sex. Such concerns torpedoed a broad anti-discrimination bill in Houston in November.
In Virginia, the Gloucester County School Board鈥檚 restroom policy currently mandates that students use restrooms corresponding with their biological gender, or a private, single-stall restroom. Gavin was barred from using the boys鈥� restroom in 2014, and he is challenging the policy as stigmatizing and discriminatory.
Gavin's initial attempt at being granted a court injunction to allow his use of the boys鈥� restroom was denied last September in US District Court. that Gavin did not submit 鈥渆nough evidence to establish that the balance of hardships weigh in his favor,鈥� and balanced his concerns against 鈥減rivacy interests of the other students protected by separate restrooms.鈥�
The US Department of Education and the Department of Justice released a statement in October supporting Gavin鈥檚 position, suggesting that schools with policies similar to Gloucester鈥檚 may be in violation of federal law.
The appellate court鈥檚 decision in Wednesday鈥檚 hearing is expected to come within weeks.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
