The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by the Gloucester County School Board to reinstate their rule that directs students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological sex or a private, unisex bathroom.
The decision to not hear the arguments will leave in place a lower court’s ruling that outlined the policy as unconstitutional.
The lawsuit originated when Gavin Grimm, a biological female who was denied access to the boys’ bathroom when she was a student. The case has been working itself throughout the courts for the past several years.
However, the school system argued its rule was not discriminatory due to the fact that it allowed students to use unisex bathrooms.
Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were the only justices that voted to listen to arguments for the case.
This is the second time Grimm’s case has made it to the Supreme Court. In 2016, the Supreme Court accepted the case after the Obama administration implemented policies that favored transgender students. However, the court then dropped the case after President Trump ended the previous regulations.
Grimm’s lawsuit was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “Our work is not yet done, and the ACLU is continuing to fight against anti-trans laws targeting trans youth in states around the country,” the group said in a statement after the decision.
The group has been active in upholding its pledge to challenge similar laws. Earlier this week, the organization filed a lawsuit to prevent the enactment of a new transgender bathroom sign law from taking effect on July 1.
The enacted law would require organizations to post a sign outside their bathrooms, if they allow individuals to use any bathroom — not one based on their biological sex.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gavin Grimm” by Scott Tufankjian/ACLU.
