The American Civil Liberties Union last week filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department against Gloucester County Public Schools over a policy the Gloucester School Board adopted on Dec. 9.
The policy limits the use of male and female bathrooms and locker rooms to a student’s corresponding biological gender, with a provision for alternative facilities for students with gender identity issues.
The ACLU complaint was filed on behalf of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student at Gloucester High School. Grimm, who was born a female but self-identifies as a male, sought to use the male restrooms at GHS after he found the alternatives offered by the school unacceptable.
Grimm’s request led the school board to consider a policy on the matter, which passed by a 6-1 vote. The dissenting vote was cast by Kim Hensley, who said she felt the policy violated federal law and could put GCPS at risk of losing federal funding. The ACLU also urged the board to reject the policy as discriminatory and in violation of Title IX.
The vote came after the board heard public comment on the issue during two of its meetings, with the majority of speakers objecting to Grimm’s request. Many also suggested the addition of unisex bathrooms as an alternative.
According to the ACLU complaint, Grimm has a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and his medical and mental health providers have determined that living in accordance with his gender identity in every possible respect, including using the appropriate restroom, is essential for his treatment for gender dysphoria.
The complaint states that, after the board passed the policy, Grimm was prevented from using the boys’ restroom and required to use a unisex bathroom in the school clinic instead. The school board said in a press release that it planned to designate single-stall unisex bathrooms that would be open to all students, but the complaint said such facilities have not been put in place.
Grimm has a history of depression and anxiety, according to the complaint, which have been exacerbated by the new policy. It states that even if more unisex bathrooms were installed in convenient locations, Grimm finds the restroom exclusion, which singles out transgender students by requiring them to use separate facilities, to be inherently stigmatizing and demeaning.
The complaint states that the policy violates Grimm’s rights and the rights of other transgender students under Title IX, and that federal courts have made clear that the protections in Title IX from discrimination based on “sex” include discrimination based on gender identity or transgender status.
It also states that the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education have entered into binding settlement agreements requiring school districts to allow transgender students to use restrooms and other sex-segregated facilities that correspond to their gender identity instead of unisex restrooms.
Gloucester School Board vice chairman Kevin Smith said Monday that the board did not plan to respond to the ACLU complaint. “It’s just a complaint, we’re not planning a response to it,” he said.