The U.S. The Supreme Court on Monday, Dec. 7, declined to take up an appeal from parents in Oregon who want to prevent transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms of the gender with which they identify, rather than their sex assigned at birth.
The case came from a school district near Salem, Oregon’s capital city. The federal appeals court in San Francisco had upheld a Dallas, Ore., school district policy that allows transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
Parents sued over the policy in 2017, saying it caused embarrassment and stress. A lower court refused to block the policy and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling, writing that the school district did not violate students’ constitutional rights or a law that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs.
Similar lawsuits have been dismissed by courts in other parts of the country.
Chase Strangio, deputy director for trans justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said, “The Supreme Court has once again said that transgender youth are not a threat to other students.
“As we look towards state legislative sessions that will likely continue the attacks on trans youth, the decision not to take this case is an important and powerful message to trans and non-binary youth that they deserve to share space with and enjoy the benefits of school alongside their non-transgender peers,” Strangio continued. “We will continue to fight in courts, in legislatures, and in our families and communities to ensure that all trans people feel safe and belong.”
— Associated Press
