This week, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a case determining whether or not schools can prohibit transgender students from using bathrooms that do not align with their biological sex.
The Court left in place a ruling from a federal appeals court that required an Indiana middle school to allow a “transgender boy” to use the facilities that align with “his” gender identity (via NBC News):
The student, identified in court papers as A.C., who has since graduated from John R. Wooden Middle School, is now in high school, where he is able to use his preferred bathroom.
The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville had wanted the justices to conclude that it is not required to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choosing.
At issue was whether either the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which says that the laws apply equally to everyone, or Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, protects transgender students in that context.
The court's decision not to intervene means that litigation in lower courts nationwide will continue, with judges reaching differing conclusions. The Supreme Court is likely to weigh in on the issue at some point.
The left-wing Human Rights Campaign celebrated the move on X, calling it “a step in the right direction in our ongoing fight to protect LGBTQ+ youth from anti-equality extremism.”
Recommended
This is a step in the right direction in our ongoing fight to protect LGBTQ+ youth from anti-equality extremism.
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) January 16, 2024
The child at the center of the lawsuit, A.C., has reportedly identified as a boy since he was 8 years old. He goes by a male name, pronouns, and has a “typically masculine haircut and clothing.”
Townhall has covered how women have been forced to share restrooms and locker rooms with men who masquerade as women. This includes adults like Will “Lia” Thomas, the male swimmer who competed on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas was allowed to do so because he claimed to identify as a woman.
One of Thomas’ teammates, Paula Scanlan, a sexual assault survivor, said in an interview with Matt Walsh that that the school never spoke to the girls to inform them that they would be sharing a locker room with a male. She shared that she tried to avoid Thomas and “change as fast as possible.”
“It [the locker room] was uncomfortable. I did notice a few girls – there’s a few bathroom stalls in the bathroom – and I did notice some girls changing in the bathroom stalls for practice, which I’ve never really seen that before,” Scanlan said. “For me personally, the biggest thing was, when you’re changing, there’s all these people talking in the background, all these women’s voices, and then all of a sudden you hear a man’s voice. I’d always kind of jump a little bit [hearing Thomas’ voice].”
The school scared the girls into silence, Scanlan added.
“There was something going on in that athletic department that wanted to keep us quiet. And I was like, ‘this is getting scary,’” Scanlan explained. She said that girls were told in a meeting, without Thomas present, “do not talk to the media, you will regret it.”
“Another thing they said is, ‘Lia’s swimming is non-negotiable,’ and then they provided us with counseling services to help us be okay with Lia swimming,” she added. “I was petrified.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member