Supreme Court Declines To Hear Transgender Bathroom Case Involving Virginia Student

(Updated at 12:53 p.m.) WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up the case of a transgender high school student in Virginia who wants to use the boys' bathroom, a case that court-watchers had expected the nation's top court to hear this year, according to multiple reports. The case was set to be argued before the Supreme Court later this month, but the change comes after President Trump rescinded federal guidance instructing schools to let students use the bathroom of the gender they identify with rather than their biological birth.

The case concerns Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Gloucester County. The 17-year-old said he wanted to use the boys' bathroom even though his birth certificate indicates that he is 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.

The Supreme Court has not yet considered the question of transgender use of bathrooms, which has become a hot-button issue in the past year and led to a controversial law in North Carolina that banned people from using bathrooms that weren't associated with their birth genders. The U.S. Justice Department has filed a civil rights suit against that law.

Grimm's lawsuit has been a closely watched Supreme Court case, and with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia leaving one seat open on the bench that Republicans had blocked President Obama from filling, it's a case that could have ended up deadlocked. Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill Scalia's seat on the high court, but his confirmation hearings have not yet been held.

The justices said Monday that they will not hear arguments in Grimm's case and sent the lawsuit back to a lower court in Virginia to study the federal law known as Title IX and whether it applies to transgender students, the Associated Press reports.

Grimm and his mother notified administrators of his male gender identity at the beginning of his sophomore year in high school and received permission from school administrators to use the boys’ restroom for almost two months without any incident, says the ACLU, which is representing Grimm in court. Once school officials received complaints from some parents, the school board adopted a new policy requiring students to use the bathroom serving their gender at birth.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit must now consider whether Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex includes gender identity. While the Obama administration said it did, the Trump administration has not issued an opinion on the topic, The Washington Post reports.

Joshua Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU and lead counsel for Grimm, told the Washington Post, “Nothing about today’s action changes the meaning of the law. Title IX and the Constitution protect Gavin and other transgender students from discrimination. While we’re disappointed that the Supreme Court will not be hearing Gavin’s case this term, the overwhelming level of support shown for Gavin and trans students by people across the country throughout this process shows that the American people have already moved in the right direction and that the rights of trans people cannot be ignored. This is a detour, not the end of the road.”

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