Pine-Richland finalizes settlement regarding transgender bathrooms
Case could establish national legal precedent
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Elissa Ridenour reflects on her senior year of high school, she’ll look back with satisfaction.
Engaging in a discrimination lawsuit with the school district wasn’t something she wanted to do, but now that it’s over, she’s happy she did it.
“While it was happening it was horrible and I didn’t want to spend my senior year doing that, but now that I look back at it I kind of feel relieved I was able to be a part of something that is going to be so groundbreaking within my community and really spread the voice of the trans community,” she said.
Ms. Ridenour, 19, was one of three transgender students who sued Pine-Richland School District after the school board adopted a policy last fall that restricted students to using either unisex bathrooms or bathrooms that match their biological gender.
Lambda Legal, the advocacy group representing Ms. Ridenour, Juliet Evancho and a third student, who wasn’t identified because he was a minor, announced a finalized settlement deal with the school district Tuesday.
The Pine-Richland school board voted July 17 to rescind the policy. Also as part of the settlement, the students received an undisclosed monetary sum and the school district agreed to update its nondiscrimination policy to include gender identity.
“This is a victory for transgender students everywhere and sends a clear warning to school districts with anti-transgender bathroom policies,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, a staff attorney with Lambda Legal.
The lawsuit was filed last fall in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania after the school board adopted the restrictive restroom policy, which reversed a longstanding district policy that allowed students to use restrooms matching their gender identities.
Legal experts said the case was SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A-2