What would have been a landmark transgender rights case concerning several states’ “bathroom laws” is no longer on the Supreme Court’s docket. The case in question, which the court originally agreed to hear back in October, concerns Gloucester High School student Gavin Grimm and whether or not he should be allowed to use gender appropriate restrooms (Grimm was born female) on state property. Following the White House’s recent decision to remove transgender protections from Justice and Education department documentation, however, the Supreme Court apparently opted out.
According to the New York Times, the eight sitting justices issued a “one-sentence order” essentially canceling a late March hearing for Grimm’s case. Previously an appeals court decided in the boy’s favor, but the latest twist means a lower court in Virginia is now tasked with reevaluating the previous decision in light of President Donald Trump and his administration’s decision not to include transgender protections and similar rights included in President Barack Obama’s use of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.
Joshua Block, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represents Grimm, told the Associated Press that Monday’s announcement “is disappointing for trans kids across the country and for Gavin, who are now going to be held in limbo for another year or two.” He stressed, “Title IX means the same thing today as it meant yesterday” since the “lower courts already have held that it protects trans kids,” but with Trump’s recent withdrawal from defending said protections, the future of Grimm’s case is uncertain.
(Via Associated Press and New York Times)