WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a Pennsylvania school district’s policy letting transgender students use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities.
Without comment, the court declined to review an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit that upheld the Boyertown Area School District policy. It had been challenged by six former or current high school students.
The court’s decision not to review the case does not set a national precedent, but those supporting the school district saw it as a win nonetheless.
Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, called it an “enormous victory.”
“Today’s announcement allows schools to move forward with policies that support transgender students. But our work is far from over. We will continue to defend the transgender community from attacks in the courts, the legislatures, and the White House,” Mar said.
The administration of President Barack Obama in 2016 issued guidance to school systems across the country to allow transgender students use the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. The Supreme Court accepted a case to review that policy.
But a month after taking office, the Trukmp administration rescinded the guidance, and the court sent the case back to lower courts.
The Pennsylvania case is Doe v. Boyertown Area School District.
