A transgender first-grader was the winner of a civil rights case against her elementary school after the Colorado Civil Rights Division decided that the school’s decision to ban her from using the girls’ bathroom was illegal discrimination.
Coy Mathis, the first grader, was born a boy but began to identify as a girl “as soon as she could express herself,” her mother, Kathryn Mathis, told the local NBC affiliate KOAA.
She was banned from the girls’ bathroom at Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain, Colo., in December after a new policy was instated. The measure said that she could either use the boys’ bathroom, a teacher’s lounge bathroom or the nurse’s bathroom.
Coy’s parents were unhappy with the school’s decision and chose to remove their daughter from the institution. A complaint was also filed on behalf of the Mathis family by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, arguing the student should be allowed to use the girls’ bathroom.
And they got their way.
On Sunday, a ruling was announced which stated that in accordance with the school’s actions, Coy was a victim of illegal discrimination. Keeping the ban in place “creates an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating or offensive,” the ruling said.
According to the New York Times, Colorado Civil Rights Division Director Steven Chavez stated in the ruling that to disregard Coy’s “identity while performing one of the most essential human functions constitutes severe and pervasive treatment and creates an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating or offensive.”
And Kathryn was pleased by the ruling.
“Schools should not discriminate against their students, and we are thrilled that Coy can return to school and put this behind her,” she said in a statement obtained by Denver’s Fox affiliate. “All we ever wanted was for Coy’s school to treat her the same as other little girls.”
The Mathis family has since relocated to Denver to attend to the medical needs of one of their other children and plan to enroll Coy in one of the area schools.
