Transgender Bathroom Case Goes to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear a case regarding transgender students’ right to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
The justices will hear the case sometime next year.
At issue is whether a Virginia high school student is allowed to use the boys’ bathroom. NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports:
“Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old senior in Gloucester County … came out as transgender when he was a freshman in high school. The school principal allowed him to use the boys’ bathroom, until some parents complained, and the school board adopted a policy that required students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex, or a separate single-stall restroom office.”
So Grimm, who has been taking hormones and has grown facial hair, sued the school board. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit agreed that his case could proceed. Gloucester County then petitioned the court, and in August, the justices ruled 5-3 that the school board did not have to follow the lower court’s order. Justice Stephen Breyer said he voted to stay the lower court order as a “courtesy” to maintain the status quo while the court considered whether to hear the lawsuit.
More: Transgender Bathroom Case Goes To Supreme Court : The Two-Way : NPR