Supreme Court Won’t Overturn School Bathroom Policy in Win for Pennsylvania Transgender Students

Transgender students in the Pennsylvania Boyertown Area School District are protected for now. They can continue to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity after the Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to hear the case.

The conservative Christian Alliance Defending Freedom represented a group of students in the casesaying that the policy violates student privacy.  ADF has done this before and represented students and school districts in similar lawsuits across the country.

Because the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, it leaves standing the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals unanimous ruling last year that allows transgender students in the school district to keep using the bathroom associated with their gender.

The school district has even made separate areas for students who don’t feel comfortable sharing bathrooms with transgender students.

“The Boyertown Area School District provides private bathrooms and locker rooms to all students who do not feel comfortable sharing such (spaces) with others, transgender or cisgender,” Michael Levin, the lawyer for the school district, said in a statement. “The school district’s approach to offer separate and private bathrooms, locker rooms and private spaces to students who desire greater privacy is the common-sense approach that the Plaintiffs claim that they want.”

The ACLU represented Aidan DeStefano, a student at Boyertown Area Senior High who is transgender, and the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, a coalition of LGBTQ youth leaders and youth organizations.

The ACLU tweeted their support today.

#BREAKING: The Supreme Court will allow the school policy in Boyertown that supports trans students to stand. Our client Aidan was accepted as the boy he is — this should be every student’s experience. This is a victory for trans students and educators nationwide.”

[Insert Tweet: https://twitter.com/aclupa/status/1133415182540169218]

Related

Trending Now

Follow us

Most Popular

Join Our Newsletter

Get the top workplace fairness news delivered straight to your inbox