HRC Commends Obama Administration for Legal Support of Transgender Student Challenging His School's Discriminatory Restroom Policy

WASHINGTON - October 28, 2015 – Today, in response to the news that the Obama administration has filed a brief with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals supporting a transgender student's challenge of school policy banning him from using restrooms that comport with his gender identity, Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), released the following statement:

"Today's action by the Department of Justice sends a crucial message to schools across the country -- transgender youth are valuable members of our community who are entitled to full protection of the law. Access to appropriate restrooms is necessary for students to be successful in school. No one should be humiliated or marginalized by the adults responsible for helping them to achieve."

On Wednesday, the administration filed a brief supporting Gavin Grimm, a transgender male, in his lawsuit against Virginia's Gloucester County School District. Grimm's suit alleges that in denying him use of the restroom that corresponds with his gender identity, the district is violating Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, which bars sex discrimination in education.

Administration lawyers in their brief wrote that, "Prohibiting a transgender male student from using boys' restrooms, when other non-transgender male students face no such restriction, deprives him not only of equal educational opportunity but also 'of equal status, respect, and dignity.'"

The HRC Foundation, the educational arm of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, works with many schools that want to do right by transgender students through its Welcoming Schools program. For more information, read Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students to assist in creating inclusive environments for all.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.