NORFOLK, VA — A federal judge has ruled in favor of a transgender man who was denied the right to use the boys’ bathroom at the high school he attended in Virginia, according to a report. The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk ruled that the school board’s transgender bathroom ban discriminated against Gavin Grimm, who has waged a legal battle against the school for around four years now.
The ruling is being hailed as a major victory both for Grimm and for the American Civil Liberties Union, which hopes that a successful lawsuit will win rights for other transgender individuals nationwide.
Grimm, who was a high schooler at the time in Gloucester County, Virginia, wanted to use the boys’ bathroom even though his birth certificate indicated that he was a female. He transitioned to being a male and legally changed his name, and although the school initially allowed him to use the boys’ room, officials changed their minds later. Grimm was forced to use the girl’s restroom or a private restroom due to the policy.
Proponents of transgender bathroom laws say that it protects children from potential sexual predators. Opponents say there is absolutely no evidence that this is a legitimate concern, and such laws tramples on the rights of transgender individuals.
When the case first emerge, the Obama Administration argued that transgender bathroom laws violate Title IX, a federal law that bans discrimination in schools based on sex.
Judge Allen ended up agreeing with that position. “There is no question that the board’s policy discriminates against transgender students on the basis of their gender nonconformity,” she wrote in her decision, according to Fox News.
Grimm tweeted that the ruling was a “relief” after many years of litigation.
It is such a relief to achieve this closure and vindication from the court after four years of fighting not just for myself, but for trans youth across America.
— Gavin Grimm (@GavinGrimmVA) August 9, 2019
In 2017 Grimm made Time Magazine’s Most Influential People list. The list, which features leaders, artists, titans, pioneers and icons, included Grimm in the “Pioneers” category, noting how he has become a face of the transgender bathroom debate.
The Time profile written by transgender rights activist Janet Mock, said, “Gavin is the cherubic face of a reductive, dirty debate about trans people’s right to exist in public spaces without hostility, harassment and violence.”
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