Virginia transgender bathroom battle wages on as ‘thousands of students’ are impacted, according to officials
Four northern Virginia school systems, reportedly insisting that there are “thousands of students in Virginia public schools who … identify as transgender,” are supporting a transgender teen’s lawsuit filed because she was prevented from using the boys’ restroom.
Gavin Grimm sued the school board in Gloucester County, Virginia in 2015, claiming that its policy violated Title IX and the equal protection clause of the Constitution, but was later dismissed as the student graduated.
Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax and Arlington county school boards have united to back Grimm’s lawsuit, filing a friend-of-the-court brief for the case, which will be heard in July in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The brief asserts, “Male students, teachers, and parents have not used the policy as a ruse to improperly access female restrooms. Sex offenders have not exploited the policy to prey on children. Transgender students have not suffered greater stigma or trauma. Those fears have proved entirely unfounded.”
Ilryong Moon, the Fairfax school board member pushing for the amicus brief, said, “It’s a perfect opportunity for us to show support for Grimm.”
The Gloucester County School Board had required students to utilize restrooms that matched their biological genders. (NOTE: this also includes locker rooms and housing status on a remote field trip)
Six gender-neutral changing rooms, each equipped with a toilet, shower and dressing area, will be included in the city’s rebuilt high school when it opens in 2021, spokesman John Wesley Brett said.
Grimm, now 19, is studying to become a middle school teacher in California.
More recent studies released in 2016 estimate the proportion of Americans who identify as transgender at 0.5 to 0.6%.
In 2013 Virginia had 1,265,419 students enrolled in a total of 2,182 schools in 227 school districts.
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