In transgender case, Supreme Court justices choose compassion over hard-right politics

Only two of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices said they would have been willing to hear arguments in a case involving a Virginia school district’s effort to reinstate a ban on transgender students using bathrooms other than the gender the student was assigned at birth. That means the vast majority, including conservative justices nominated by President Donald Trump, sees this as a non-issue despite years of efforts by the Trump administration and conservative activists to whip up public hysteria over it.

That’s a good sign for the return of common sense and simple human compassion after four years in which transgender issues were weaponized by the right and portrayed as a threat to the moral core of the nation. No, the American way of life is not under threat because a transgender boy asks to use the boys’ bathroom.

Then-student Gavin Grimm asked to use the boy’s bathroom at his high school to conform to his gender identity.

The cruel reality of high school is that youths who show themselves to be different in any way are perceived by the less compassionate among their peers as being fair game for ridicule and bullying. Grimm was brave enough, having been assigned as female at birth but medically diagnosed at age 15 as having gender dysphoria, to have demanded full access to the boys’ bathroom, knowing full well what such a visit could have entailed.

That was back in 2014. The school principal agreed, and Grimm was able to use the bathroom of his choice for two months before angry parents revolted.

The school board in December 2014 officially banned him from the boys’ room. The school tried to skirt controversy by asking Grimm to use a private bathroom — including the nurse’s room — which effectively singled him out for unwanted attention rather than helping him blend in with other students.

Grimm again displayed extraordinary bravery by taking the school district to court, arguing successfully through the full appeals process that the school district had violated his constitutional equal protection rights.

“Being forced to use the nurse’s room, a private bathroom and the girls’ room was humiliating for me, and having to go to out-of-the-way bathrooms severely interfered with my education,” Grimm stated Monday. “Trans youth deserve to use the bathroom in peace without being humiliated and stigmatized by their own school boards and elected officials.”

Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated a willingness to hear the case. The rest, including three conservatives appointed by Trump, presented no willingness to take up the lower appeals panel’s ruling in Grimm’s favor.

Opponents of transgender bathroom access no doubt will try again. It’ll take more brave young people like Grimm, willing to risk all to defend their rights and fight intolerance.