The Supreme Court Has Vacated an Appeals Court Ruling in Favor of a Transgender Boy in Light of a Move by The Trump Administration
Adam Liptak, NY TIMES, Monday, March 6, 2017

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would not hear a major case on transgender rights after all, acting after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on whether public schools had to allow transgender youths to use bathrooms that matched their gender identities.

In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court vacated an appeal’s court decision in favor of a transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, and sent the case back for further consideration in light of the new guidance from the Trump administration.

The Supreme Court had agreed to hear the case in October, and it had been scheduled to be argued this month. It would have been the court’s first encounter with transgender rights, and there was a good chance the case would have been one of a fairly sleepy term’s biggest decisions.

The question in the case was whether Mr. Grimm could use the boys’ bathroom in a Virginia high school.

There are other cases on transgender rights in the pipeline, including a challenge to a North Carolina law that requires transgender people to use bathrooms in government buildings that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates. The law has drawn protests, boycotts and lawsuits.

The Virginia case concerned the Obama administration’s interpretation of a federal regulation under a 1972 law that bans discrimination “on the basis of sex” in schools that receive federal money.

The Department of Education said in 2015 that schools “generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.” Last year, the department went further, saying that schools could lose federal money if they discriminated against transgender students. The Trump administration withdrew that guidance last month.

Supreme Court Rejects Gavin Grimm’s Transgender Bathroom Rights Case
by PETE WILLIAMS, NBC News

In a blow to advocates of transgender rights, the U.S. Supreme Court Monday said it would not hear the case of a transgender high school student fighting to use the bathroom of his choice.

The court also wiped off the books a lower court ruling in favor of the student, Gavin Grimm, who said federal law allowed him to use school restrooms matching his gender identity.

"This is a detour, not the end of the road," said the ACLU's Joshua Block, who represented Grimm.

The Supreme Court had earlier agreed to hear the case on March 28. But last month, the Trump administration announced a change in policy on the transgender issue. The lower court had relied, in part, on an earlier version of that policy.

In light of the change, the Supreme Court asked lawyers involved in the case whether it should proceed, and both sides urged the court to hear the case.

But Monday's order, with no noted dissent, took the case off the court's calendar.

"It's not a loss, it's really just a temporary setback," said Mara Keisling, executive director of National Center for Transgender Equality.

She noted that a handful of cases involving a similar issue are now working their way through the federal courts.

Grimm's case came to the Supreme Court on an appeal from the school board in Gloucester County, Virginia after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Grimm. He was born female but began to identify as male after his freshman year. He legally changed his name and began hormone therapy.

The principal at first gave him permission to use the boys' bathroom, but the school board adopted a policy saying restrooms were "limited to the corresponding biological genders."

Grimm sued, claiming that the arrangement made him feel stigmatized and isolated, and the appeals court ruled in his favor. It said refusing to allow students to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity would violate a federal law known as Title IX that bans sex discrimination.

The ruling cited an Education Department letter that said "a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity." The appeals court found that to be a reasonable interpretation of Title IX.

In February, the Trump administration rescinded the Education Department letter as well as guidance issued by the Obama administration to the nation's schools, warning them that failing to allow students to use the bathrooms matching their gender identity could cause them to lose their federal funds.

The Obama administration had also cited the court ruling in its transgender lawsuit against North Carolina's bathroom law.

Grimm's case now goes back to the Fourth Circuit. It, in turn, could sent the case back to the Virginia trial court.

"While we're disappointed that the Supreme Court will not be hearing Gavin's case this term, the overwhelming level of support shown for Gavin and trans students by people across the country throughout this process shows that the American people have already moved in the right direction and that the rights of trans people cannot be ignored," said the ACLU's Block.

See also:
Fight Erupts in Trump Administration Over Transgender Students’ Rights