High court: School can block transgender teen from boys room

A divided Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to temporarily block a lower court order that had cleared the way for a transgender male high school student to use the boys’ bathroom in a Virginia public school this fall.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the boy in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. in April, ruling that the Education Department could include gender identity as one of the categories covered by Title IX.

Visitors walk outside the U.S. Supreme Court.

The eight-member Supreme Court voted 5-3 to stay the lower court’s order.

The case is the first time the fight over transgender bathroom rights has reached the Supreme Court, and the subject arrived in the heat of a USA presidential election in which the makeup of the court is a central issue.

“In the event the petition for a Writ of Certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the issuance of the judgment of this Court”, the court wrote in their decision.

The three female judges on the court, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan denied the stay from the court. In that situation, nothing would happen until the Court hears argument and issues a final decision sometime during the October 2016 session.

Josh Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who’s representing Grimm, said he’s disappointed that the teen will have to begin another school year being “stigmatized and isolated from the rest of his peers just because he is transgender”. “We remain hopeful that Gavin will ultimately prevail”.

In light of the appeals court ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Robert G. Doumar had ordered the school board to let Grimm use the boys restroom while the court continues to examine his case.

His lawyers say that the policy violates Title IX, a federal law banning sex discrimination in schools. The court reinstated Grimm’s Title IX claim and sent it back to the district court for further consideration.