News (USA)

Court nixes school’s request to keep trans teen out of bathroom

Court nixes school’s request to keep trans teen out of bathroom

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A transgender teen should not be blocked from using the boy’s bathroom at school while the school board pursues an appeal in the student’s discrimination lawsuit, a federal judge said Wednesday.

The school board immediately filed another appeal.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert G. Doumar had ordered the Gloucester County School Board in June to let Gavin Grimm use the bathroom corresponding to his gender identity when he returns to school this fall while the court considers his case.

But the board asked the judge last week to put that mandate on hold while it appeals to the Supreme Court. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said in April that the board discriminated against Grimm by forbidding him from using the boys’ restroom.

Doumar denied the school board’s request Wednesday, saying the appeals court’s actions indicated that it wanted its judgment to take effect immediately.

The school board immediately appealed Wednesday’s ruling to the 4th Circuit, arguing that it will suffer “irreparable harm” if it has to let Grimm use the boys’ restroom this fall. When the school attempted to do so in the past, “outcry from parents and students was immediate and forceful,” the school board said in its appeal.

Josh Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Grimm, said he believes it’s unlikely that the appeals court will side with the school board, noting that the court rejected several of its previous motions.

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