A federal appeals court has affirmed that allowing transgender students to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity is consistent with state and national law, and does not infringe on other studentsâ privacy.
In 2017, a group of Dallas, Oregon parents sued the Dallas School District, complaining that the districtâs decision to let a trans boy use the boysâ bathroom and locker rooms violated the privacy rights of cisgender students and their parents. In 2018, that case went before Portland-based U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez, who ruled in favor of the school districtâs policy. The Dallas parents, who call themselves Parents for Privacy, appealed Marcoâs ruling.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Marcoâs original ruling, writing that there is no constitutional right guaranteeing parents control over âthe bathroom policies of the public schools.â LGBTQ+ legal advocates celebrated the decision.
âIâm relieved, but not surprised, that the court did the right thing,â said Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney at the ACLUâs LGBT and HIV Project, in an ACLU press release. âThere is just no legal basis for what the other side wants: mandated discrimination against trans students."
Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, was an intervenor in the case, meaning it joined to argue on the Dallas School Districtâs behalf. The ACLU and law firm Lane Powell represented BRO in the case.
In addition to arguing that the school districtâs policy violated their privacy rights, Parents for Privacy also invoked Title IX, a federal law banning discrimination based on sex in schools, in their legal case. The parents said that allowing the trans boy to use the boysâ facilities went against Title IX guidelines that call for sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms.
That argument didnât hold water with the Ninth Circuit panel, comprised of judges A. Wallace Tashima, Susan P. Graber, and John B. Owens.
âThe panel stated that just because Title IX authorizes sex-segregated facilities does not mean that they are required, let alone that they must be segregated based only on biological sex and cannot accommodate gender identity,â the legal summary of the opinion reads.
Joy Wilson, a parent of an 11-year-old transgender girl, said in the ACLU press release that sheâs âseen the positive impact when schools are affirming places for trans kids.â
âThis decision is one more message to all the trans kids out there that we see you,â Wilson said. âWe hear you, and we support you.â