A federal appeals court will start hearing the arguments of a lawsuit by a transgender student from Virginia after he was not allowed to use boys' bathroom. Public schools and courts from all over US will be closely watching the case of Gloucester High School student Gavin Grimm, who was born a female.
Al-Jazeera reported that Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester School District in June 2015 over sex discrimination. His school's bathroom policy made him use a restroom separate from the rest of the students. A Virginia federal judge ruled last September against the boy's appeal to put a stop to this bathroom policy. The American Civil Liberties Union called for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide in favour of the boy.
According to Yahoo, Grimm's attorney told an appeals court that the transgender has the right to use the boys' restroom, based on the judicial rulings and federal regulations. The lawyer urged on Wednesday a three-judge federal appeals panel to reverse the judge's ruling against the boy. A decision will be given this week.
The school barred the boy in December 2014 from using the boys' restrooms. The school implemented a policy that students can only use the restroom according to their biological gender.
ABC News wrote that the case could have an influence over public schools from all over the US would address restroom policies on gender identity. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Joshua Block said, "In some respects, this will be a bellwether." Block represents the boy in court.
There have been court rulings in the past that are in favour for transgender people based on employment and constitutional laws. However, Grimm's case will be the first time that a transgender case will be decided based on education, said Block. Meanwhile, Gloucester's school board attorney David Corrigan denied that the restroom policy is discriminatory since anyone can use the unisex restrooms.
