by Diane Robertson
This week the Supreme Court sent their transgender school bathroom case back down to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for further consideration in light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice on February 22, 2017.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order reversing President Barack Obama’s executive order mandating that all schools, receiving any form of federal funding, allow students to use the gendered facilities of their choice.
It’s not clear how things will play out, but in meantime, the fourth circuit court will now reconsider Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., and public schools will be free to make their own gender guidelines.
About the Supreme Court decision, Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kerri Kupec said:
“The first duty of school districts is to protect the bodily privacy rights of all of the students who attend their schools and to respect the rights of parents who understandably don’t want their children exposed in intimate changing areas like locker rooms and showers. President Trump, Attorney General Sessions, and Education Secretary DeVos rightly rescinded the faulty directive that the Departments of Education and Justice had issued during the Obama administration. It only makes sense for the Supreme Court to vacate the 4th Circuit’s earlier decision and instruct it to reconsider this case. The 4th Circuit should affirm the plain meaning of Title IX, which protects boys’ and girls’ privacy in locker rooms, showers, and restrooms. School officials should be free to protect their students’ privacy, safety, and dignity without federal government interference.”