A Virginia school board agreed to pay $1.3 million to the American Civil Liberties Union after a six-year lawsuit over a transgender bathroom ban policy.
Transgender student Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board in 2015 for its policy mandating that students use bathrooms aligning with their biological sex. The suit ended when the Supreme Court rejected the school board’s appeal to reinstate the policy after lower courts found the ban unconstitutional.
Grimm, who began transitioning from female to male in high school, underwent hormone therapy and chest surgery as part of the transitioning process. Grimm was initially allowed to use the boys’ restroom but was eventually told students “shall be limited to the corresponding biological” bathroom after several parents complained.
Grimm claimed to have faced suicidal thoughts due to the school’s policy and allegedly developed urinary tract infections from avoiding using the restroom during school hours.
The school board agreed to pay the ACLU’s legal fees in a Thursday filing and conclusion of the suit.
“It should not have taken over six years of expensive litigation to get to this point,” Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, said in a statement.
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Grimm also made a statement on the lawsuit’s conclusion, hoping “this outcome sends a strong message to other school systems that discrimination is an expensive, losing battle.”
