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Supreme Court Lets Stand Transgender Student’s School Bathroom Victory

The court decided not to take up the case as it would’ve reached the same conclusion as a lower court that ruled in his favor.

The Supreme Court, without comment, said Monday that it will not take up the case of whether U.S. schools must allow students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, letting a victory for a Virginia transgender student stand. Gavin Grimm, a high school student in Gloucester County, sued his school board in 2017 after it adopted a policy that its school restrooms could only be used by people on the basis of their biological gender. Prior to the policy, Grimm, who began to identify as male after his first year of high school, was allowed to use his school’s boys’ restroom. Grimm was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and argued on the basis of Title IX that he faced discrimination by not being able to have access to the same restrooms as his peers. The Supreme Court declined to review the case, leaving intact a Fourth U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Grimm that said forcing him to use a different bathroom would violate federal law.