West Virginia joined five other states in a brief urging an appeals court to rule that a transgender teen hadn’t been discriminated against when he was forbidden from using the boys’ restroom at his Virginia high school. “North Carolina certainly accommodates transgender students in the school settings now”.
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Grimm is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The question of which bathrooms transgender people can use has become a divisive political issue in several states, emerging as an emotional fight in South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Mississippi and Virginia. Maxine Eichner, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who’s not involved in the case, said the plaintiffs could use Tuesday’s ruling to win an injunction blocking the law’s provisions on bathroom access in public schools.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled in Grimm’s favor.
In its 2-1 decision, the court also reversed a federal judge’s order and wrote that the student can sue the county school board in Virginia. This is because, she added, transgender issues like the one decided this week often involve alleged Title IX violations and bullying.
“Because we conclude the district court did not accord appropriate deference to the relevant Department of Education regulations, we reverse its dismissal of G.G.’s Title IX claim”.
LGBT advocates celebrated Tuesday’s court decision and were hopeful that it would help turn back the tide of efforts by state lawmakers to get bathroom restrictions on the books. “I just don’t see the need for it”, he said. Supporters say the law protects privacy and safety in public bathrooms.
According to the court, the district judge appeared to use his personal opinion, rather than relying on the federal government’s interpretation of Title IX, Pate said.
“Today’s historic decision is not only a victory for Gavin, but for all transgender young people who are being targeted by discriminatory actions – including North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s anti-transgender HB2 law”, Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.
“This opinion is binding in all the states in the 4th Circuit”, constitutional lawyer Page Pate said.
That would nullify the portion of North Carolina’s HB2 that addresses public facilities requirements.
North Carolina, like Virginia, is part of the Fourth Circuit. Legislators also prohibited local governments from passing anti-discrimination laws of their own protecting transgender people and gay and lesbian people.
Grimm, a junior at Gloucester High School, was diagnosed with gender dysphoria; he was biologically born a female but identifies as male.
Gavin Grimm’s school has a bathroom policy that segregates trans students and requires them to use “alternative, private facilities”.
Because the Fourth Circuit Court found that discriminating against students violates Title IX laws on sex discrimination, federal education aid could be in jeopardy.
The Gloucester County School Board has not returned CNN’s request for comment. House Bill 2 exposes North Carolinians to discrimination and harm, is wreaking havoc on the state’s economy and reputation, and now more than ever, places the state’s federal education funding in jeopardy. A transgender boy who appears male may generally raise alarms if he is forced to use the girls’ bathroom.
“Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the situation”, Grimm said by telephone. “I feel humiliated and dysphoric every time I’m forced to use a separate facility”.
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Christie said he was excited to hear about the ruling.
