Judge orders girls' bathroom access for Ohio transgender student

9/26/2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge rejected a school district’s challenge to President Barack Obama’s rule on transgender bathrooms today, ordering a biologically male student who identifies as female be treated “like the girl she is.”

Judge Algenon Marbley said the Highland Local Schools in Morrow County had failed to provide a persuasive argument that giving the student access to the girls’ restroom would jeopardize other students’ privacy or safety. He further ordered that Highland use a female name and pronouns in referring to the 11-year-old.

“(S)chool districts that have encountered these very issues have been able to integrate transgender students fully into the academic and social community without disruption, and certainly without the doomsday scenarios Highland predicts, such as sexual predators entering an elementary-school restroom,” he wrote.

There’s “certainly no evidence” the student, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, is likely to violate other students’ privacy or put their safety at risk when using the girls’ restroom, he wrote.

Messages seeking comment from the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys for the school district and the student weren’t immediately returned Monday.

The Highland schools sought to block enforcement of a federal directive that public schools let students use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities, noting that they had provided alternative bathroom facilities for the student in the office. The office restroom is used by school personnel and other adults, and the child’s parents said using it was taking “a toll on her mental health.”

The federal guidance was the Democratic administration’s interpretation of how Title IX, a law against sex discrimination, should apply to transgender students. A federal district court in Texas has issued a sweeping preliminary injunction against enforcement of the regulations in a lawsuit filed by Texas and at least 11 other states.

However, Marbley said because Ohio wasn’t a party to that lawsuit and because Highland’s lawsuit began before its decision the Texas court’s action doesn’t apply in this case.

Highland stood to lose $1 million in education funds annually for violating the rule.