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What is Title IX? Trans student wins lawsuit against school to be able to use boys restroom

SCOTUS rejected hearing Virginia school's appeal of a ruling by a court that Grimm was protected by law which bars sex discrimination in education.

The U.S Supreme Court on Monday ruled in the favor of transgender student Gavin Grimm who sued his school after he was stopped from using the boys' restroom. Assigned female at birth, Gavin who transitioned and identifies as male graduated from the school in 2017. He started attending Gloucester High School in September 2014 and was using the boys' restroom for a couple of weeks with the school's permission. Things started to go haywire soon after. 

This is not the only example of discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in educational establishments across the country. Earlier this month, Virginia teacher Byron Cross, a Christian, declined to affirm transgender students saying doing so was equal to defiling God's image. He was placed on administrative leave after the incident made news in May 2021 but was reinstated earlier this month. On June 15, Bryce Dershem, a valedictorian of Eastern Regional High School, New Jersey had his mic cut by the principal after he spoke about queer identity and eating disorder in his speech. Chad Sandford, a trans student from Florida was filmed being slammed to the ground by bullies on May 21. The case is being treated as a "hate crime".

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What is Title IX?

Title IX which was revised in June 2021 which is a federal civil rights law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." 

Approximately 17,600 local school districts, over 5,000 postsecondary institutions, and charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums are recipients of federal assistance from the Department. Recipient institutions are required to operate their education program or activity in a nondiscriminatory manner free of discrimination based on sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Coming back to Gavin Grimm's case, the SCOTUS decided against hearing the Gloucester County School Board's appeal against a 2020 ruling that stated the student was protected under Title IX. Grimm's case was up for appeal at the Supreme Court back in 2016, a year after Grimm sued the school but no ruling was issued and it was sent back to a lower court. Grimm is reveling in his win by sharing the news with his followers and Twitter-verse has joined in on the celebrations. "I was barred from the bathroom at my highschool 7 years ago, when I was 15. 6 years ago, at 16, myself with the @ACLU/@ACLUVA filed suit in response to that discrimination. Twice since I have enjoyed victories in court, and now it's over. We won.," read one of his tweets.