US federal court rules that trans student can use gender-appropriate bathroom
A federal court on Thursday ruled that a school in Virginia must let a trans student use a gender-appropriate bathroom.
The US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, ruled that Gavin Grimm must be able to use the men’s facilities in his Virginia Gloucester County high school.
The court ruled that the School Board in Gloucester must allow him to use the toilets corresponding to his gender identity.
Grimm’s claim of sexual discrimination had initially been dismissed by the court.
But his case was reinstated by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in April.
“I am elated to hear that I’ll be able to attend my senior year of high school with my full rights restored,” said Grimm in a statement.
The ruling is the first of its kind, for an appeals court to have ruled on a trans bathroom issue under the Title IX Act, which bans sex-based discrimination.
Grimm was originally banned from using the men’s restroom.
But the school board has already said it planned to ask the US Supreme Court to review the ruling.
Yesterday a School Board in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania voted through a new policy protecting transgender students and allowing appropriate bathroom use.
The policy comes after Mississippi and North Carolina passed laws banning such policies, and forcing trans people to use public bathrooms which correspond to the sex stated on their birth certificate.
