Courtturnsaway bathroomcase

TheU.S. SupremeCourt refused to question school district policies that let transgender students use bathrooms aligned with theirgenderidentity, rejectinganappeal fromparents whosaid the privacy rights of other students arebeing violated.

The justices, without comment, left intact a federal appeals court decision that threw out a lawsuit against Dallas School District No. 2 in western Oregon. Thecase centered on a transgender student who was allowed to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker roomat Dallas High School until he graduated in 2018.

Intheirappeal, threeparentsandtwoparentorganizations said the school district’s policy violated the Constitution and a federal statute that guards against discrimination in education. The school district told the justices the case had becomemoot.

Restroom use by transgender people has been a lurking issue at the Supreme Court. In 2016 the court agreed to hear an appeal from a Virginia school board that sought to bar a high school student from using the boys’ bathrooms. The justices dropped that case after President Donald Trump took office and his Education Department revoked an Obama administration interpretation of federal lawasprotecting the bathroomrights of transgender students.

Whenthecourtthisyear said a federal job discriminationlawprotectsLGBTQ workers, dissenting Justice SamuelAlitosaidtheruling opened the door to claims bytransgenderpeopleover bathrooms. The majority opinion, written by Justice

NeilGorsuch, saidthecourt wasn’t addressing bathrooms or locker rooms.