Supreme Court rejects case challenging transgender restroom policy in schools

The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a challenge over shared locker rooms and restrooms for transgender students at a Virginia high school, leaving in place a lower court ruling that allows transgender youths to use restrooms of their choice.

Gavin Grimm, a transgender student, sued the Gloucester County School Board after it prohibited him from using the boys’ restroom. The school offered him a private restroom, but he argued that such a solution would be stigmatizing.

Mr. Grimm began his legal fight in 2015 and won his case in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lower court reasoned that the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, in favor of LBGTQ employees in Georgia who had been fired on the basis of sex discrimination, justified striking down the Gloucester County school system’s policy. Taking the case to the high court, the school board argued that the Constitution didn’t provide for such a sweeping rule and that the privacy rights of other students were at stake.

Without comment, the justices declined to hear the case.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. would have moved to take up the case, the court order said, two justices short of the four needed.

Mr. Grimm, who has since graduated from high school, said he is glad the legal battle has finally ended.

“Being forced to use the nurse’s room, a private bathroom, and the girls’ room was humiliating for me, and having to go to out-of-the-way bathrooms severely interfered with my education. Trans youth deserve to use the bathroom in peace without being humiliated and stigmatized by their own school boards and elected officials,” he said.

The justices agreed to take up the case in 2017 but remanded it back to lower courts after a change in administrations. The Obama administration supported Mr. Grimm’s challenge, but the Trump administration withdrew that support.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Mr. Grimm, said three appeals courts have ruled that discriminatory restroom policies against transgender students run afoul of the Constitution.

“This is the third time in recent years that the Supreme Court has allowed appeals court decisions in support of transgender students to stand. This is an incredible victory for Gavin and for transgender students around the country,” said Josh Block, an attorney with the ACLU.

Alphonso David, president of the liberal Human Rights Campaign, said the court’s refusal to hear the Grimm case shows that transgender youths are protected under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans sex-based discrimination in schools.

“Everyone has the right to high-quality public education without the fear of being discriminated against simply for being brave enough to show up as you truly are. This is a battle Gavin Grimm has been fighting for over four years. We are grateful that his resilience, courage and determination has finally been rewarded. Congratulations to Gavin,” Mr. David said.

Josh Blackman, a professor at the South Texas College of Law and an active member of the right-leaning Federalist Society, said he wasn’t surprised by the justices’ decision despite the 6-3 conservative majority.

“This court is not as conservative as the numbers suggest,” said Mr. Blackman, adding that the justices have allowed the law related to transgender bathroom policies to develop in the 4th Circuit and it is “difficult to undo those precedents and judgments.”