Where Should Gavin Grimm, a Transgender Boy, Use the Bathroom? A Case Study in Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia

There is a small town in Virginia and it is the middle of the academic year. Dozens of speakers have gathered at a school board meeting for their chance to comment on the board’s most burning issue: Where should Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy, use the bathroom?

The subject of headlines across the country became the agenda item, as I had become the topic in my hometown. At the school board meeting, parents of my kids were calling me a freak at a public meeting and discussing my personal life in public. That was how low they were willing to go in order to hurt a child.

My activism on transgender rights led me to write a children’s book with co-author Kyle Lukoff called “If You’re a Kid Like Gavin,” detailing my battle for equality and freedom. I’m hoping that even if transgender kids don’t have the support of a loving parent like I did, they’ll see themselves reflected in its pages.

These dangers are many, and they don’t all come at the hands of a potentially violent aggressor. For example, a report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law published in March 2022 estimates that 54,000 transgender people between the ages of 13 to 17 were at risk of losing access to gender-affirming medical care amid a flurry of anti-trans bills proposed in statehouses across the US.

Even as a high school student, I saw that threats to the lives of trans Americans had reached a dangerous tipping point. I didn’t want to be an activist. I was not grown up. But it felt like the task of spreading greater awareness about a community that had been pushed to the margins fell to me.

These treatments have allowed me to be the person that I am supposed to be, and have been studied and reviewed by leading health organizations.

Yet, across the country, they are being banned, challenged or indefinitely delayed, while people hoping to transition are put through a series of hoops and hurdles before getting access to treatment.

My case ended in a victory for trans students. The win at the Fourth Circuit level meant that, within the jurisdiction of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, the protections afforded by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 include transgender people. The Supreme Court declined to weigh in, allowing the decision to stand. As a result, all schools in the Fourth Circuit were required to adopt a policy in their schools that provided for the needs and rights of transgender students based on the model policies set by the Department of Education.

The courts ruled that the school board was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX of the US Education Amendments of 1972 after they had gone through the system for four years.

I had hoped that was the case. In fact, appropriate policies were adopted across the Fourth Circuit in response to social change, other court decisions, the tireless work of transgender activists, as well as the outcome of my case.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/opinions/transgender-schools-virginia-bathroom-access-gavin-grimm/index.html

Defending Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and the “Unfairness of Girls and Girls in Sports”: An Attorney General Defends a “Fair” Measure

Last year saw the election of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who ran on a platform of misinformation and attacks against marginalized communities.

Under his administration’s proposed guidelines, transgender students would only be permitted to use their correct name, pronouns and facilities if a parent requests so in writing. The measure does not contain any requirements for schools to approve such requests. This excludes children who are not “out” to parents or guardians for safety concerns or other reasons, or whose parents or guardians are not supportive.

The model policy of Virginia has language that encourages schools to institute even more restrictive rules if they choose, but it also states that each school board should adopt policies that are consistent with.

It seems as if Gov. Youngkin is willing to reject not only established federal and state law, but also guidance and best practices from leading authorities on the physical and mental health of children and young adults. While Youngkin and his administration have couched discriminated actions about protecting children, religious liberties and the rights of parents, I believe that their real goal is to scapegoat a minority already under duress to gain support from his base.

His gains will be short-lived. A few weeks ago, thousands of students across Virginia walked out of school to protest Youngkin’s proposed restrictions on trans students. Protests are continuing against a policy. The community of trans people is not going away.

Transgender athletes’ ability to compete in sports is the subject of a continuing national debate. More than a dozen states have passed laws banning or restricting their participation based on the premise that they have an unfair competitive advantage, despite a lack of widespread cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union and its West Virginia chapter filed the lawsuit in 2021 on behalf of an 11-year-old transgender girl who hoped to compete in middle school cross-country in Harrison County. The boards of education and their administrators are named in the lawsuit.

“This is not only about simple biology, but fairness for women’s sports, plain and simple,” the attorney general said. Opportunities for girls and women are precious, and we must protect them.

An important government interest in providing equality for females is related to the legislature’s definition of a girl as being based on biological sex.

In his Thursday decision, he said the plaintiff, “like all transgender people, deserves respect and the ability to live free from judgment and hatred for simply being who she is.” There wasn’t enough evidence to show lawmakers passed the legislation with harmful intent.

A small group of people gathered outside the NCAA Convention in San Antonio to protest a decision to allow women’s college sports with trans athletes.

The legislature is not ready to intervene if transgender players lose their tournament, or should they be allowed to play against a biological male?

Had the legislature not done so, there would have been no reason for the court to weigh in on the issue, he continued. The judge concluded that he needed to do so now.

A 2017 study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law used state-level, population-based surveys to estimate that West Virginia had the highest percentage (1.04%) of residents ages 13 to 17 among all states who identified as transgender. That equated to about 1,150 teens.

According to the head of school at the school, Long Trail forfeited the game because of a trans player on their roster.

Fogg said that the tournament was withdrawn because they did not think it was right to play against an opponent with a biological male.

There is variation in the types of factors that go into determining the sex listed on a birth certificate.

A National Survey of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and intersex (LBI) Youth Mental Health found that more than half of their peers have considered suicide in at least one year, and the Williams Institute says 30% of trans youths have attempted suicide in the year prior to the study.