Transgender teen prevails in Title IX discrimination suit over boys bathroom use

RICHMOND, Va. (Christian Examiner) — A policy preventing transgender student, Gavin Grimm, from using a boys restroom at his Virginia high school is discriminatory, a federal appeals court today ruled, overturning a prior decision to reject Grimm's discrimination claim.

The ruling may set a precedent for transgender-bathroom related lawsuits in other states, including North Carolina.

Gavin Grimm, who was born female, but now self-identifies as a female, filed a sex discrimination claim when barred from using the bathroom at the high school after the school received complaints and adopted a policy requiring students to use restrooms corresponding with their biological gender.

The Obama administration filed a friend of the court brief to support Grimm's claim in Federal Court.

A panel of three-judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court ruled the Gloucester County School Board policy is discriminatory, according to the Associated Press.

Reuters reported it is the first time Title IX has been succesfully used to claim discrimination in a transgender case. 

The case is being remanded to the district court to reheard.

The court's decision is said to establish legal precedent in five states in the 4th Circuit, which includes North Carolina. The states faces a lawsuit over a newly established law requiring students to use public bathrooms which correspond to the gender identified on their birth certificate.