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The Florida school district that prevented a transgender student from using a men’s bathroom wins a federal appeal after a teen sues alleging it made him feel “small, nervous and terrified”
- A Florida court ruled in favor of a school district’s policy to ensure that transgender students use bathrooms based on their biological sex
- The 7-4 vote in favor, by Republican-appointed justices, comes after a transgender student challenged the policy in 2017.
- Drew Adams successfully sued the St. Johns County School Board after he was prevented from using the boys’ bathroom while a student.
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A Florida school district has won a federal appeal upholding its policy of barring transgender students from using bathrooms that align with their chosen identities, after a student filed a lawsuit.
In a 7-4 vote, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said the St. Johns County School Board did not violate the US Constitution or federal civil rights law by requiring that students use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.
The policy had been challenged by Drew Adams, a transgender man who sued in 2017 after he was barred from using the boys’ bathroom while attending Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Instead, she had been asked to use all-girls or gender-neutral bathrooms.
“This is an egregious ruling that contradicts the rulings of all other circuits to consider the issue across the country,” Tara Borelli, a Lambda Legal attorney representing Adams, said in a statement. “We will review and evaluate this dangerous decision over the weekend.”
Drew Adams successfully sued the St. Johns County School Board in 2017 after he was prevented from using the boys’ bathroom as a student. But on Friday, a Florida court ruled in favor of a school district’s policy to ensure that transgender students use bathrooms based on their biological sex.
In a 7-4 vote, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said the St. Johns County School Board did not violate the US Constitution or federal civil rights law by requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.
The seven justices of the Atlanta-based majority court of appeals were appointed by Republican presidents, including six by Donald Trump, while the four dissenting justices were appointed by Democrats.
Two other federal appeals courts have ruled that transgender students can use bathrooms that match their identities.
Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa argued that the school board had an important interest in protecting student privacy.
Friday’s decision increases the likelihood that the US Supreme Court will take up the issue.
Adams contended that the high school’s bathroom policy violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause and Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.
speaking to Radio 1 Newshe previously said that after being denied use of the men’s toilets at the age of 14, he felt “little and nervous and terrified”, and as if he had “done something wrong” by wanting to use the men’s toilet.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa disagreed, saying the school board had an important interest in protecting student privacy, calling it “incorrect” to suggest it was based on unlawful stereotyping of transgender people.
The Trump appointee also said that Title IX allows for separate bathrooms based on biological sex, citing “the plain, ordinary meaning of ‘sex’ in 1972” when that law went into effect.
He also warned that a ruling in favor of Adams could “transform school housing facilities, locker rooms, showers and sports equipment into gender-neutral areas and activities.”
Whether Title IX should be amended to equate ‘gender identity’ and ‘transgender status’ with ‘sex’ should be left to Congress, not the courts.’
Adams contended that the high school’s bathroom policy violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause and Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education. He previously said he felt “small, nervous and terrified” when he was denied the right to use the boys’ bathroom.
Circuit Judge Jill Pryor, a Barack Obama appointee, countered that by forcing Adams to use gender-neutral bathrooms, the St. Johns school board branded him with an “inferiority badge” deeming him “unfit” for receive the same protection.
“The Constitution and laws of the United States promise that no person shall wear such an insignia because of an immutable characteristic,” Pryor wrote. ‘Majority opinion breaks that promise.’
US states are also divided on transgender bathrooms.
Twenty-two mostly Democratic-leaning states and Washington, DC supported Adams, while 18 mostly Republican-leaning states supported the school board on legal briefs, court records show.
A three-judge split panel of the 11th Circuit had previously struck down the board’s bathroom policy as unconstitutional. Friday’s decision overturned that ruling.