Wis. school asks high court to take up bathroom issue
Case is on rights of trans students
Calling it a “matter of national importance,” the Kenosha Unified School District on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a lawsuit filed by a transgender high school student who had been barred from using the boys’ bathrooms.
Specifically, the district is asking the high court to overturn a May decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed Tremper High School senior Ashton Whitaker, now 18, to use the boys’ bathroom while his lawsuit progressed through the courts.
The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the district had engaged in “sex-stereotyping” in violation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, and that its bathroom policy warranted heightened scrutiny under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
“We are looking for clarification from the Supreme Court so everyone knows what their responsibilities and protections are, both under Title IX and the equal protection clause,” said Milwaukee attorney Ronald Stadler, who filed the petition on behalf of the district.
The Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, which represents Whitaker, issued a statement saying the federal district and appeals courts have ruled “unambiguously” that the district violated Whitaker’s rights and subjected him to unnecessary harm.
“We’re disappointed that (the district), instead of accepting these rulings, has chosen to waste time and money by filing an ill-conceived petition for review with the Supreme Court,” it said.
Whitaker and his mother, Melissa, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee last summer, alleging the Kenosha district and Superintendent Sue Savaglio-Jarvis discriminated against him on the basis of his gender identity.
Whitaker was born a girl but identifies as a boy. He has legally changed his name to Ashton and has begun taking hormone replacement therapy.
At the time, his was the latest in a series of lawsuits filed across the country aimed at securing federal and constitutional protections for transgender students.
While the Court of Appeals’ decision addressed only the bathroom issue, it affects other issues, including access to locker rooms, showers and overnight accommodations, according to the petition.
“The number of students in America’s public schools who label themselves as transgender is growing, and advocacy groups are pushing to create rights for these students,” it says. “School districts, students, and parents across the country need guidance on this issue.”