Obama administration backs transgender boy’s right to use men’s bathroom

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The Obama administration has spoken out in favour of a trans boy in Virginia – after he was banned from using male toilets.

16-year-old Gavin Grimm of Gloucester County High School in Virginia had found himself discriminated against last year – when his school board ordered him to stop using the male toilets.

Grimm and his family had taken legal action against the high school over the decision, claiming it was a violation of his rights to force him into the wrong bathroom.

The teen has this week earned powerful allies – as two federal government departments filed an amicus brief backing up the teen.

The Departments of Education and the Justice filed a strongly-worded 40-page brief, standing up for Grimm and the rights of trans teens across the country.

It says: “Denying a transgender boy access to the boys’ restroom is often much more than a mere inconvenience or limitation on his ability to use the restroom… it can be an effective denial of a restroom altogether.”

“The only other “option” made available to G.G. – using the girls’ restroom – is illusory.

“It is unrealistic to suggest that a student like G.G., who identifies and presents as a boy and whom the school treats as a boy in every other respect, could walk into a girls’ restroom without creating a situation that is disruptive to his female classmates and humiliating to him.

It continues: “As a result of such a policy, transgender students like G.G. are denied the ability to participate fully in and take advantage of their school’s educational programs.
Obama administration backs transgender boy’s right to use men’s bathroom
“No one could reasonably expect a student to make it through an entire school day without access to a restroom; any student who attempted to do so would likely experience discomfort and anxiety affecting his ability to concentrate during class, further diminishing his educational experience.”

“Although [schools] may provide separate restrooms for boys and girls, when a school does so, it must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.”

Slamming the school’s logic, it adds: “To the extent GCSB claims to be concerned about other students’ safety, it has not provided any factual basis for concluding that G.G.’s use of the boys’ restroom poses a safety risk to any student.

“A school cannot deny a transgender boy educational opportunities based on a blanket and unfounded assumption that all transgender boys pose a danger to other boys in the restroom just by virtue of being transgender.”

Grimm’s case is set to be heard by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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