Transgender

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from a Virginia school board seeking to prevent a high school student from using the boys' bathroom. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit gave deference to the federal government's position that Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination "on the basis of sex" in public schools, protects the rights of transgender students to use school bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

Earlier this week, a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas, issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education from taking action to enforce their guidance letter on the rights of transgender students under Title IX.

Last Friday, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released joint guidance on their interpretation of the rights of and protections for transgender students under Title IX.

The Fourth Circuit court of appeals recently ruled in G.G. v. Gloucester Cty. School Bd., that courts must give deference to the U.S. Department of Education’s recent guidance that public schools must treat a transgender student in conformity with the student’s gender identity.