FL Court Ruling Against Trans Bathroom Access Makes Supreme Court Likely to Weigh In

The 11th circuit ruling that a trans boy was not discriminated against when he was barred from using the boys’ restrooms at school contradicts a 4th Circuit decision in Gavin Grimm’s case.

by Evan Urquhart

An appeals court has ruled in favor of a Florida school district, allowing them to bar trans students from using the same restrooms as others of their own gender. Drew Adams, a trans student, sued after being forced to choose between gender neutral or women’s bathrooms at Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

This 11th Circuit case seems to directly contradict an earlier case in Virginia, which was where the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that another trans male student, Gavin Grimm, was unlawfully banned from using facilities for boys. In that case the Supreme Court ultimately declined to hear an appeal. This means that in states under the 4th Circuit’s jurisdiction schools can not discriminate against trans youth, but other states were never bound by the decision there.

One of the main roles of the US Supreme Court is to make a final judgement when decisions in lower courts directly contradict each other. This means that the decision in Florida makes it more likely that the high court will ultimately hear this case. The US Supreme Court is currently dominated by political conservatives who have not been shy about taking extreme stances on so-called “culture war” issues, most notably overturning nearly 50 years of precedent which allowed women to legally obtain abortions earlier this year.