Supreme Court About to Enter Legal Fight Over Trans Rights and Bathroom Access
The controversy over the rights of transgender students and bathroom access at their local schools has reached the Supreme Court.
The dispute arrived at the justices’ doorstep on Wednesday in the form of an emergency application by the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia, which was ordered by a federal judge to accommodate a trans high school student who was denied access to a bathroom that aligns with his gender identity.
The long-running fight of Gavin Grimm with Gloucester school authorities came to a head in April, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit sided with him and ruled that federal anti-discrimination law includes protections for trans individuals.
That ruling, which a judge enforced in late June, was a high-water mark for transgender rights because it gave “controlling weight” to the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the law that bars federally funded schools from discriminating against students on account of race, sex and other protected categories.
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