US Supreme Court to hear case on transgender bathroom laws

The court will decide on the case of Gavin Grimm and whether the Obama Administration was entitled to order its directive that cited the Title IX sex discrimination law

Gavin Grimm is due in the Supreme Court over his bathroom case next month (Associated Press)

The Supreme Court announced it will take up the case of a transgender teenager who wants to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school in Virginia, amid the heated transgender rights debate across the United States.

The court will hear the case of Gavin Grimm – whose birth certificate lists him as female – and determine whether the Obama administration was justified in issuing its directive for US public school districts to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities.

Citing Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in federally funded public schools, the Obama administration asserted that schools that refuse to follow its directive could lose funding from the federal government.

The announcement will mark the first time the Supreme Court has heard a case regarding transgender bathroom laws.

Mr Grimm, 17, filed suit against Gloucester High School after administrators barred him from using the boys’ bathroom – as the gender designation does not correspond with that listed on his birth certificate.

But Mr Grimm had gone through gender transition and legally changed his name two years ago.

“Gavin has demonstrated exceptional courage, leadership, and strength of conviction throughout this ordeal,” said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, who brought the case to the court. “We are proud to continue to stand for what is right not only for him but for the broader trans community.”

A lower court ruled in favour of Mr Grimm this summer, overturning the Gloucester school board’s bathroom rule. However, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the ruling as the school board appeals the case.

“I never thought that my restroom use would ever turn into any kind of national debate. The only thing I ever asked for was the right to be treated like everyone else,” Mr Grimm said in a statement.

“While I am disappointed that I will have to spend my final school year being singled out and treated differently from every other guy, I will do everything I can to make sure that other transgender students don’t have to go through the same experience.