Judge Rules Transgender Born a Girl Cannot Use Boys’ Restrooms

On Friday, a U.S. District judge in Norfolk, Virginia, refused to allow a 16-year-old who was born a girl but later deemed to have gender dysphoria to use the boys’ restrooms in the high school.

U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar rejected the preliminary injunction of Gavin Grimm, 16, against the Gloucester County School Board, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union to appeal the decision to a federal appeals court.

In June, Grimm filed suit, claiming that Grimm’s inability to use the boys’ restroom caused Grimm to feel stigmatized at Gloucester High School.

The principal had allowed Grimm to use the restrooms starting from roughly October 20, 2014 and continuing for approximately the next seven weeks, according to the lawsuit. Parents strenuously complained, leading to a board meeting on November 11,2014. The ACLU moaned that at the school board meeting some people referred to Grimm as a young lady.

At a later school board meeting on December 9, the school board voted 6-1 to limit access to the communal restroom based on “biological gender.” The board stipulated that students with “gender identity issues” use “alternative” restrooms. On December 10, Collins informed Grimm that the boys’ restrooms were off-limits.

Grimm’s lawsuit noted that three unisex, single-stall restrooms have been installed at Gloucester High School. The lawsuit complained “Gavin refuses to use the separate single-stall restrooms they make him feel even more stigmatized and isolated than when he used the restroom in the nurse’s office.”