SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST TRANSGENDER STUDENT THE SCHOOL BOARD SUPPORTED

Gavin Grimm

The U.S. Supreme Court today vacated a lower court ruling that had favored a transgender student in Virginia, a case the Board of Education had gone on record supporting.

The school board in December 2016 voted unanimously to sign on to the amicus brief supporting Gavin Grimm, who identifies as male and attends the local high school in Gloucester, Va., according to an ACLU story on the case. 

It said he had been treated for severe gender dysphoria and informed the school that he would attend as a male at the start of his sophomore year in the fall of 2014.

But in December of that year, a new policy was instituted barring his use of the male restroom. He sued and the district court dismissed his suit, but he won on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in August 2016. The local school district in Virginia had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled today.

The ruling followed President Donald Trump's recent executive order overturning a previous order by President Obama that favored transgender rights in schools. It effectively returns the issue to the appeals court, which could change its decision based on Trump's order.

See the school board's original supportive resolution HERE.