The transgender bathroom debate is most likely headed to the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a federal court of appeals refused to reconsider a previous three-judge panel’s ruling on the matter.
The review was requested by the Gloucester Country School Board after a 2-1 ruling last month determined a Virginia high school had discriminated against a transgender boy by forbidding him to use the men’s restroom.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer told the school board following the refusal that the “momentous nature” of the case “deserves an open road to the Supreme Court,” encouraging them to pursue allowing higher courts to hear the case.
In his dissenting opinion, Niemeyer wrote, “Bodily privacy is historically one of the most basic elements of human dignity and individual freedom. And forcing a person of one biological sex to be exposed to persons of the opposite biological sex profoundly offends this dignity and freedom.”
The case was brought by transgender teen, Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male. In 2014, Grimm was allowed to use the men’s restroom for a few weeks, but due to complaints from some of the parents, the school board instituted a policy requiring students to use the restroom that responds to their real, biological gender, or the single-stall restroom.
In the ruling on the issue, the school board said, “It shall be the practice of the [Gloucester County Public Schools] to provide male and female restroom and locker room facilities in its schools, and the use of said facilities shall be limited to the corresponding biological genders, and students with gender identity issues shall be provided an alternative private facility.”
Grimm was not happy with this solution. Grimm said in a statement, “Transgender kids should not have to sue their own school boards just for the ability to use the same restrooms as everyone else.”
Grimm said that for him, this case is about more than just using a certain restroom. “I’m banned from a gender specific place and it is a big issue for me, this is one way the school is saying, we do not believe you are legitimate, and that is a big deal to me,” he said.
The school board, however, does not agree, as they too believe that the case is about more than just bathroom use.
It remains to be seen whether or not this case will be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming months.
