Pro-Transgender Lawyers to Supreme Court: Nothing to See Here

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WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - Lawyers for a transgender student are asking the Supreme Court to stay out of the picture.

In a court brief filed Tuesday, attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are urging the High Court to ignore a petition filed by a Virginia school board that doesn't want a girl who thinks she's a boy to use the bathroom of her choice. The lower court had ruled against the school board, which then filed a petition last week seeking a temporary halt on the court's decision until the entire Supreme Court can review the case.

Allowing 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, a female pretending to be male, to use the boys' restroom and locker room will "put parents' constitutional rights in jeopardy," attorneys for the school board maintain. According to the official petition,

Depriving parents of any say over whether their children should be exposed to members of the opposite biological sex, possibly in a state of full or complete undress, in intimate settings deprives parents of their right to direct the education and upbringing of their children.

It is "natural to assume," they continued, that parents may pull their children from school over the issue.

In the latest move from the ACLU, lawyers are arguing there is no justifiable reason to put a hold on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. Representing the activist organization is attorney Josh Block, who asserts the school board cannot provide evidence of potential harm by allowing Grimm to use the boys' facilities.

"The board has utterly failed to demonstrate that it will suffer irreparable harm if G. [Gavin Grimm] — and only G. — is allowed to use the boys' restroom at Gloucester High School while this court considers the board's forthcoming petition," Block wrote. Continuing, the attorney holds that permitting Gavin to use the opposite restroom "harms no one, but forcing [her] to use separate restrooms is humiliating and harmful."

"The Supreme Court will decide in several months whether to review Gavin's case, but in the meantime Gavin should be allowed to begin his senior year of high school without being forced to use separate restrooms from all of his peers," Block concluded.

The April decision from the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals echoes Block's sentiments. "The uncontroverted facts before the district court demonstrate that as a result of the Board's restroom policy, [Grimm] experiences daily psychological harm that puts him at risk for long-term psychological harm," wrote Judge Andre Davis, citing Title IX, a federal law banning discrimination in schools.

The Virginia school board petition has been filed with Chief Justice John Roberts, who is given the option of ruling himself or asking the full Court to decide.

The Virginia case marks the first time a petition regarding transgender bathroom access has come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

To date, 23 states have sued the Obama administration over transgender bathroom "rights," a movement that sprang up following a mandate issued in Mary from the Departments of Justice and Education ordering all public schools to permit so-called transgender students to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice.

The mandate stems from legal action taken by North Carolina in early May, which countersued the Obama administration over the state's House Bill 2, which requires self-described transgender individuals to use the public restroom that corresponds with their true gender.

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