A federal judge in Virginia ruled in favor of a transgender former student on Friday, arguing a school board’s transgender bathroom ban discriminated against him.
U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk issued Gavin Grimm and the American Civil Liberties Union a victory by ruling that the school board had violated the former Gloucester High School student’s constitutional rights by banning him from using either the boys’ or girls’ restroom following complaints from the community.
The school’s decision came as Grimm was transitioning during his sophomore year. Instead, the school constructed single-stall, unisex restrooms for him, but they were not available on all parts of the school’s grounds.
The judge ruled that Grimm’s rights were violated under the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and under Title IX.
“There is no question that the Board’s policy discriminates against transgender students on the basis of their gender noncomformity,” Allen wrote. “Under the policy, all students except for transgender students may use restrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Transgender students are singled out, subjected to discriminatory treatment, and excluded from spaces where similarly situated students are permitted to go.”
She added, “However well-intentioned some external challenges may have been and however sincere worries were about possible unknown consequences arising from a new school restroom protocol, the perpetuation of harm to a child stemming from unconstitutional conduct cannot be allowed to stand.”
Grimm, who graduated from Gloucester High School in 2017, was awarded $1 in damages, and the school district has been ordered to pay his court fees. The district must also update the gender on his records and transcript.
“My case has given me something of a platform that I intend to use, as long as I have it available to me, for trans education and advocacy,” he said, adding that he would continue to fight the case should the school district appeal the judge’s decision.
