Supreme Court declines to hear case involving transgender restroom policies in schools

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that allows public school students in Indiana to use restrooms corresponding to their so-called gender identity. The justices refused an appeal from the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, Ind. The American Civil Liberties Union in 2021 filed a lawsuit on behalf of a female student and her parents after a middle school refused to let her use the boys restroom. A U.S. District Court judge in 2022 issued an injunction in favor of the student, and the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August ruled that the school’s actions violated Title IX protections against discrimination based on sex.

Has the Supreme Court ever heard a case like this? The nation’s highest court in 2021 declined to hear a similar case involving a female student in Virginia who was denied access to the boys restroom. The court last year refused to enforce West Virginia’s law that requires student-athletes to participate in sports based on their biological sex. At least nine states have laws that require people to use public school restrooms that correspond to their biological sex.

Dig deeper: Read Christiana Kiefer’s column in WORLD Opinions about a court ruling that protected a school district’s restroom policy.