November 29, 2021
Coalition Files Amicus Brief Challenging Florida School District
Policy Prohibiting Transgender Students from Using Bathrooms Corresponding with
Gender Identity
Carson City, NV – Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford joined a multistate
coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the case
of Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County in support of Drew
Adams, a transgender male who was prohibited from using the boys’ bathroom at a
school he attended in St. Johns County, Florida.
“Transgender
Americans must not be discriminated against, and denying transgender students
access to the correct bathroom is blatantly discriminatory, disrespectful and
harmful,” said AG Ford. “Intolerance has no place anywhere, especially
in schools, where students must be treated with dignity and respect.
Non-cisgender students must feel supported and included, and policies such as
the one that affected Mr. Adams run directly counter to those principles.”
Adams argues that
the school’s policy of prohibiting him from using the boys’ bathroom violated
his constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause,
as well as his rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.
The brief supports Adams in these assertions.
Adams was
prohibited from using the boys’ bathroom at Nease High School in Ponte Vede,
Florida while he was a student, despite being treated as a boy in every other
way at the school. The coalition argues that the only function of the school’s
exclusionary policy is to stigmatize a particular group, thereby violating
Title IX.
Exclusionary
policies such as denying the right to the correct bathroom can affect the
well-being of transgender students, who already face widespread discrimination.
In the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS), 77% of respondents who were known
or perceived as transgender in grades K-12 reported negative experiences at
school, including being harassed or attacked.These attacks ranged from
verbal harassment to physical attacks to sexual assault.
In the brief, the
attorneys general argue that discrimination on the basis of gender identity
causes economic, educational, emotional and health harms. The coalition argues
that the experiences of states involved show that policies that are
inclusionary of transgender people lead to significant individual and societal
benefits without jeopardizing student safety or privacy.
Joining AG Ford in
filing today’s brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of
Columbia.
The brief is
attached.
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