Court: Trans students protected, no threat to others’ rights
On Tuesday, a federal court in Illinois joined many others in ruling that the federal Title IX sex discrimination law protects transgender students, and said that respecting transgender students when it comes to restrooms doesn’t infringe other students’ rights. The court rejected a request by an anonymous group of students and parents that it immediately halt a Chicago-area school district’s policy of permitting students to use locker rooms and restrooms that match their gender identity.
The Illinois case is significant because, in addition to agreeing that Title IX protects transgender students, it is one of the few court cases that directly involve claims that equality for transgender people violates someone else’s rights. According to the court, the plaintiffs’ allegations that the possibility of running into a transgender student in the restroom or locker room them distress were too vague, and did not demonstrate why and how their rights to education are harmed or compromised because someone else needs to go to a bathroom that matches her gender identity. The court emphasized that while the individuals filing the lawsuit may see transgender students as being members of the gender they were assigned at birth, these students already live their lives as the gender with which they identify. The court cited a federal appeals court ruling from 2001, which also said a school employee did not have a right not to share a restroom with a transgender coworker.
NCTE will continue advocating for transgender students, students’ right to use the restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity. For more information, see NCTE’s School Action Center and our Know Your Rights at School resource.
