March 2, 2017
Willkie files amicus brief on behalf of various national education groups in important transgender rights case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Willkie filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Respondent Gavin Grimm, in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., a significant case concerning transgender students’ restroom access. The case challenges a Virginia public school district’s policy prohibiting transgender school students from using the restroom conforming to their gender identity as sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments.
The brief, filed on behalf of the National PTA, GLSEN, Association of School Counselors, Association of School Psychologists, and other national education associations, informs the Court of educational disadvantages transgender students commonly suffer and the particular negative effects on transgender students’ psychological wellbeing and academic performance from forcing them to use a restroom that is not aligned with their gender identity. The brief also shows that schools and school districts across the nation have already developed and successfully deployed inclusive policies that include allowing transgender students to use restrooms conforming to their gender identity. The brief argues that these schools’ successful experiences demonstrate that requiring schools to permit transgender students to use a restroom aligned with their gender identity in compliance with Title IX will not compromise other students’ privacy interests or lead to other ominous consequences predicted by the Gloucester County School Board.
The Willkie team on the brief included partners Richard Bernstein, Mary Eaton and Wesley Powell, and associates Emma James, Tom Artaki and Tricia Haynes.
