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Attorney: Court Ruling Protects Students’ Rights
By: Associated Press
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A federal judge has rejected an Ohio school district’s challenge to Democratic President Barack Obama’s rule on transgender bathrooms, and an attorney for the student at the center of the dispute says the court has taken an important step in protecting the student’s rights.
In a decision Monday, Judge Algenon Marbley ordered the Highland Local School District in Morrow County to treat an 11-year-old student who is biologically male but identifies as female “as the girl she is.” That includes calling the student by a female name and female pronouns and giving the student access to the girls’ restroom.
Highland sought to block enforcement of the Obama administration rule on the grounds that it made alternative bathroom accommodations for the student and that use of the girls’ restroom would infringe on other students’ rights.
Joseph Weissman, an attorney for the student, says in a statement that “every student has a right to be free from discrimination and harassment while at school,” and that the court protected the student’s rights.