Late yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision blocking a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling concerning school restroom policies.
As you may know, last spring the Obama Administration issued “guidelines” to public schools and colleges instructing them to let biological males who claim to be female use the girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, shower facilities, and so forth at school. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been underway back east, where a biologically female student who claims to be male has sued the school for access to the boys’ restrooms and locker rooms.
The school has insisted restroom and locker room facilities should remain separated based on students’ biological sex–not based on gender-identity. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered the school to let students use the restrooms and locker rooms of their choice rather than of their biological sex. Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court blocked that decision.
National Organization of Marriage (NOM) issued a statement, saying,
[T]he US Supreme Court has blocked a ruling of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals imposing a transgender bathroom policy by interpreting the term “sex” under Title IX of federal law to mean “gender identity.”
This is a big victory and protects students in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland and comes as students will be heading back to school soon. The ruling is a blow to the Obama administration which has been working overtime to impose the gender ideology of LGBT extremists.
The effect of the ruling is to leave intact a Virginia school district’s policy that intimate facilities such as restrooms, showers and locker rooms are segregated based on a student’s actual biologic sex, and not based on “gender identity” or other subjective feelings.
It is expected that the school district will file a motion with the Supreme Court to hear the underlying case this fall. NOM will urge the Supreme Court to rule that federal law enacted decades ago does not define “sex” to mean “gender identity” and that the Obama administration does not have the legal authority to impose their transgender bathroom policy on the nation’s schools.
While the decision does not directly impact Arkansas, it is a major victory that affects the tone of future court cases.
