The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to decide whether or not Title IX allows Virginia transgender high school senior Gavin Grimm the right to use the boys’ bathroom.
The move is another chapter in the lengthy and hotly contested legal battle being waged over transgender bathroom rights and sex discrimination.
Grimm, who was born female but identifies as a male, was a sophomore at Gloucester High School in Virginia when the local school board implemented a policy forcing transgender students to use “an alternative private facility,” banning him from the boys’ bathroom. The district allowed him to use a private bathroom.
A federal court, however, found his school district’s bathroom policy discriminatory. Then the Supreme Court stayed the order allowing Grimm access to the boys’ restroom until it could hear the case. Now the Supreme Court has elected not to hear the case, choosing to allow an appeals court in Virginia to determine how Title IX applies to transgender students.
The case had been scheduled for argument in March, reports CBS News.
The move follows the Trump administration’s withdrawal of the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender sex discrimination protections, which allowed students to use the school bathrooms that match their gender identity.
The Supreme Court’s decision means that, for now, the issue will remain unresolved. Because similar cases are pending in Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, most likely several appeals courts will provide opinions on Title IX’s anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, reports ABC News.
Both sides of the case said they wanted the high court to decide the case.
Companies from across the globe, including Apple, IBM and Microsoft signed onto a brief urging the court to rule in Grimm’s favor.
