Transgender student, ACLU file federal lawsuit over school’s bathroom policy
GLOUCESTER COURTHOUSE, Va. – A Virginia transgender teen is suing his school because the three unisex bathrooms installed by district officials especially for him aren’t good enough.
Sixteen-year-old Gavin Grimm was given permission by the principal at Gloucester High School last August to use the boy’s restroom after the biological girl told officials she identified as a boy. But district officials changed the policy in December after a lot of complaints from the community, ABC News reports.
The lawsuit alleges “one speaker (at the school board meeting) called him a ‘freak’ and compared him to a person who thinks he is a ‘dog’ and wants to urinate on fire hydrants,” according to the news site.
The new policy states, “It shall be the practice of the GCPS to provide male and female restroom and locker room facilities in its schools, and the use of said facilities shall be limited to the corresponding biological genders.”
The policy also provides that “students with gender identity issues shall be provided an alternative appropriate private facility,” and officials installed three unisex single stall bathrooms for Grimm’s convenience, ABC News reports.
The move, however, apparently didn’t appease Grimm, who alleges the special bathrooms “undermine his social transition” by highlighting his transexualness. And that has inflicted “severe and persistent emotional social harm,” according to a federal lawsuit filed against the district on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“I’ve been dealing with it, but it hasn’t been easy,” Grimm told WAVY. “Along with the normal stress of being a high schooler and being a teenager and trying to fit in, I have all of this negative, at least in my account, negative notoriety, and it is ostracizing and humiliating.”
He said he hopes his case will spawn more lawsuits by transgender students in other schools.
“My case is the first of its kind, so I’m hoping if we win it will set a legal precedent for others in similar situations,” Grimm said. “I’ve also got a lot of support and messages from other trans teens telling me I’ve given them inspiration and courage to come out in their lives, so I’m happy it’s positively impacting other people.”
Many folks who discussed the ABC News story online thought the school district has done more than enough to accommodate Grimm’s lifestyle decision.
“They made reasonable accommodations. If you don’t care about males being uncomfortable with you using the men’s room you shouldn’t have any expectations of empathy from them. Other people have rights too. You need to meet people half way, it’s not all about you,” 3 Gun Sports wrote.
“BS, the person may ‘think’ they are a different gender, but that is not the case in real life. The school made accommodations for their issues. This is another case of someone wanting special entitlements,” Webjak posted.
Chuck seemed to agree.
“He identifies as a male, but IS a female. They made accommodations that should have made everyone happy,” he wrote.
DaBeagle wrote that “no one cares what gender she identifies with. Children go to this school to learn, not to watch someone with personal problems. Her parents should home school her and leave the other children alone to learn.”
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