The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding with his gender identity.
The court upheld a ruling by a lower court that the Gloucester County Board had illegally prevented Gavin Grimm using the boys’ toilet before he graduated in 2017. The court decided not to take up a case on transgender rights that could have established a national precedent.
The court rejected the appeal by the board of the 2020 ruling by Richmond’s 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Grimm is covered by Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination and requires that all people be treated equally.
A court brief noted that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, conservative Justices, would have taken up this case.
Grimm, now 22 years old, wrote on Twitter that “We won”. “I have nothing else to say except thank you, Thank you, Thank you. It was an honor to be a part of this victory.
