Supreme Court declines to hear Ind. bathroom case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an Indiana case on whether schools can bar transgender students from using a bathroom that reflects their gender identity.
The justices in a brief order denied a request from a central Indiana school district to hear the case, which centers around a now-teenage trans boy, identified in court documents as A.C., who was barred from using the boys restrooms at his former middle school, the Hill reported.
Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, an adolescent trans boy and his parents filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville in December 2021 for failing to provide him with access to bathrooms consistent with his gender in violation of his rights under Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
In an August 2023 opinion, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found the school district policy did likely violate the student’s rights under Title IX and equal protection. “We’re thankful the court allowed this momentous victory for the transgender youth of Indiana to stand,” said Kenneth Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana. “This case is about the fundamental right of every student to a safe and inclusive learning environment, and the policy at its core is an affront to the freedom of transgender youth to be themselves.
