Seven years after a trans student in Virginia was prevented from using the school bathroom that reflected his true gender identity, a Supreme Court decision on Monday will protect other students from the same fate.
Gavin Grimm sued his county school board and won, and by not taking up the school board’s appeal, the Supreme Court lets the decision in favor of Grimm stand.
In 2014, Virginia’s Gloucester County School Board adopted a new policy preventing then-15-year-old Grimm from using the boys’ bathroom. Grimm, now 22, was forced to use a bathroom in the nurse’s office or the girls’ bathroom. The following year Grimm decided to sue the school board, which led to a flurry of legal battles that got tied up in decisions made by Presidents Obama and Trump. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on his behalf at the time and eventually won.
“Twice since [filing the initial lawsuit] I have enjoyed victories in court, and now it’s over,” Grimm tweeted on Monday. “We won.”
In 2016, the Obama administration stated that Title IX protections, which prevent schools from discriminating based on sex, apply to transgender students, and Grimm’s case made it to the Supreme Court. The following year, however, that guidance was reversed under Trump and the case was sent back to the lower courts without a decision.
An appeals court in Richmond, ruled that Grimm was indeed protected by Title IX and found that the school board discriminated against him in violation of federal law and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the equal protection of laws, in 2020.
Although Grimm graduated high school years ago, this long-awaited decision will help other trans students still in school.
While this is a victory for transgender students, 2021 has been a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation — and many of these laws affects trans youth. From sports participation to lack of adequate healthcare, there are still many regulations that target transgender kids. Grimm’s case is one step towards progress, but there’s much more to be done to truly protect trans youth.
Despite current battles over trans rights, both Grimm and the ACLU took the opportunity to celebrate this win on Twitter. The ACLU commented that Grimm “got the closure he deserves.”
Meanwhile, Grimm summed up his feelings in two words in another tweet: “Happy Pride.”
