Here’s what the Supreme Court’s decision in transgender bathroom case means for NC
The U.S. Supreme Court opted Monday not to take up a school board’s appeal over the rights of transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
The order marked a victory for Gavin Grimm, a transgender student from Virginia who sued the Gloucester County School Board in 2015 after school officials told him he had to use a unisex bathroom or the restroom that corresponded with the gender assigned to him at birth, which was female.
It also solidified legal precedent established by the lower court protecting the rights of transgender students — including in North Carolina.
By declining to hear the case, the Supreme Court let stand a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which found federal anti-discrimination laws protect transgender students from policies requiring them to use the bathroom of their assigned gender.
The ruling applied to the entirety of the 4th Circuit — including Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Will the Supreme Court’s ‘Grimm’ decision affect North Carolina?
The national trend of legislation that places restrictions on transgender people could “face an uphill battle” following Monday’s order, according to Kristi Graunke, legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina. That includes a recent push by lawmakers across the country to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in school — including in North Carolina.
“This decision is going to make it a lot more difficult for those kinds of laws to withstand any sort of constitutional scrutiny,” Graunke told McClatchy News. “The plain unconstitutionality of those laws is cemented.”
Grimms’ case was moving through the courts around the same time that North Carolina legislators passed House Bill 2, a controversial law preventing transgender people from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity in government buildings.
The bill caused a national uproar and was subsequently repealed.
Several individuals challenged the proposal in court and, as part of the settlement agreement, Gov. Roy Cooper said transgender people can use public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
Since then, the Wake County School System has voted to expand anti-discrimination protection to transgender students and employees, and the state Department of Public Instruction has allowed public schools to switch a student’s legal name with their chosen name on most state records.
What does the Supreme Court decision mean?
The decision to reject the school board’s appeal indicates less than four justices agreed to hear the case. According to Monday’s order, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito said they would have agreed to grant the petition.
The justices didn’t explain why they chose not to hear the appeal, as is customary.
In letting the 4th Circuit’s decision stand, the Supreme Court’s order establishes a legal precedent in North Carolina, Graunke said.
“Although Mr. Grimm was in Virginia, the legal reasoning is applicable to North Carolina and therefore it sets precedence for North Carolina as well,” she told McClatchy News.
It does not, however, “establish a national precedent, nor does it signal agreement with the lower court,” The Washington Post reported.
“Legal battles involving transgender rights are being fought in lower courts, and the Supreme Court often lets such issues percolate before weighing in,” the Post reported. “A direct split among the regional appeals courts is often what prompts the justices to enter the debate.”
At least six federal appellate courts have ruled on how Title IX applies to transgender students, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
President Joe Biden also signed an executive order that expanded federal anti-discrimination statutes covering sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Who is Gavin Grimm?
Grimm was a high school student in Virginia when he came out as a transgender boy in 2014, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him in the six-year legal battle.
After he came out, the ACLU said the school board implemented a policy barring students “with gender identity issues” from using the same restrooms as their peers.
The ACLU sued on Grimm’s behalf, saying the Gloucester County School Board’s policy violated the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX , which bars sex-based discrimination in schools.
The case traveled through federal court, the 4th Circuit, up the Supreme Court and back again — all while Grimm completed his high school education. He has since graduated and is now in his 20s, USA Today reported.
“I am glad that my yearslong fight to have my school see me for who I am is over,” he said in a statement Monday. “Being forced to use the nurse’s room, a private bathroom, and the girl’s room was humiliating for me, and having to go to out-of-the-way bathrooms severely interfered with my education.”
“Trans youth deserve to use the bathroom in peace without being humiliated and stigmatized by their own school boards and elected officials,” Grimm said.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Here’s what the Supreme Court’s decision in transgender bathroom case means for NC."
