A federal judge has ruled in favor of
transgender student Gavin Grimm.
U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L.
Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Virginia on Friday ruled that Grimm's former school district in
Virginia, the Gloucester County School Board, had discriminated
against him when officials refused to allow him to use the bathroom
of his choice.
“The Board's policy violated Mr.
Grimm's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, on the
day the policy was first issued and throughout the remainder of his
time as a student at Gloucester High School,” Allen wrote.
Grimm, who is represented by the ACLU,
filed his lawsuit in 2015 when he was a 15 year-old sophomore at
Gloucester High School.
“It is such a relief to achieve this
closure and vindication from the court after four years of fighting
not just for myself, but for trans youth across America,” Grimm
said in a statement released by the ACLU. “I promise to continue to
advocate for as long as it takes for everyone to be able to live
their authentic lives freely, in public, and without harassment and
discrimination.”
In March 2017, the Supreme Court, which
was scheduled to hear Grimm's case, announced it would not consider
the case and sent it back to a lower court. Grimm's case rested
heavily on guidance issued by the Department of Education in 2016,
which stated that transgender students were protected under Title IX.
The Trump administration revoked the Obama-era guidance, saying that
the issue was better left up to the states. The reversal prompted the
high court to act.
Allen awarded Grimm attorney's fees,
court expenses, and $1 in damages. She also ordered the school board
to update Grimm's official school records to reflect his gender as
male.
Reporting by the Richmond
Times-Dispatch indicates that the school board is likely to
appeal Allen's ruling.