Gavin Grimm's former school district in
Virginia has appealed a ruling favoring the transgender student.
U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L.
Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Virginia ruled that the Gloucester County School Board had
discriminated against Grimm when officials refused to allow him to
use the bathroom of his choice.
Grimm, who is represented by the ACLU,
filed his lawsuit in 2015 when he was a 15-year-old sophomore at
Gloucester High School. Grimm has said he wants to continue fighting
for the transgender students who come after him.
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. In a statement, the board said that it would comply with
Allen's order to issue a corrected transcript.
“On August 9, 2019, the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia entered judgment
in favor of Gavin Grimm,” the board said in a statement. “The
Court's judgment also requires the School Board to update Gavin
Grimm's official school records. The School Board is complying with
that Order while it pursues an appeal.”
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.
The appeal sets the stage for a
possible Supreme Court hearing after all.