Transgender Student Sues District 211 For Locker Room Access

PALATINE, IL - The Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 finds itself at the center of another lawsuit involving transgender students' access to school facilities. A senior at Palatine High School filed a complaint Thursday on claims the school has denied her access to the girls locker room, according to various media reports.

Nova Maday, an 18-year-old transgender girl, is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and released a statement of her own describing the claims in the suit, the Daily Herald reports.

"I just want to be treated like every other girl in our school," she said. "Even after the school district agreed to allow another transgender student to use the locker rooms in her school, they have resisted and made things harder for me. I just want to be able to get dressed for P.E. classes without having to jump through a bunch of hoops."

Maday is referring to a 2015 lawsuit against the district that made national news. Then, an unidentified transgender girl said she was denied access to the locker room at Fremd High School in a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

More Coverage on Patch

• District 211 Reaches Settlement With Feds in Transgender Case
• District 211: Transgender Student Not Allowed Open Acess to Locker Room
• Local Residents Sound Off on District 211 Decision
• District 211 Transgender Case Making National News
• Mother of Transgender Student Who Was Denied Access to Locker Room Speaks Out
• Fremd Student Starts Petition in Favor of Allowing Transgender Students Access to Locker Room

The current lawsuit indicates Maday has been regularly required to change for gym class in either a nurse's office or a locked private changing area and on one occasion had to retrieve her clothes from a loading dock.

District 211 Superintendent Dan Cates disputed Maday's claims in a statement published by the Daily Herald.

"The allegations in this lawsuit misrepresent the accommodations extended to this student and District 211's approach to working with and supporting transgender students," he wrote. "District 211 has provided caring and responsive supports for transgender students who daily use bathrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity in multiple schools."

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, asks that the school district allow Maday full access to the girls locker room, NBC reports.

Photo via City of Highland Park