GLOUCESTER, Va. - The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Gloucester County School Board's petition for the rehearing of Gavin Grimm's case with all judges.
ACLU of Virginia announced the news Tuesday afternoon.
BREAKING: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Gloucester County School Board's petition for rehearing @GavinGrimmVA's case with the full court.
— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) September 22, 2020
Discrimination against trans students is discrimination on the basis of sex and it's illegal. Full stop.
Early September, the school board filed an en banc petiton, meaning the entire 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges could hear the case and possibly overturn the decision.
According to the petition filed by Gloucester County School Board, the issue for review en banc is whether separating student restrooms on the basis of biological sex, while also providing single-stall, unisex restrooms for all students to use, including transgender students, violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The court documents state, Grimm claimed that the unisex restrooms made him feel stigmatized and isolated, and he refused to use them.
A federal court in 2018 sided with transgender rights activist Gavin Grimm saying that federal law protects transgender students from being forced to use separate restrooms.
In late August, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gavin Grimm that restroom policies segregating transgender students in schools violates the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
The court ruled on a 2-1 vote that Grimm, now a college student, is protected under federal law that bars sex discrimination in education and the U.S. Constitution's requirement that people be treated equally under the law.
