Last week, a handful of students and parents residing in suburban high school District 211 ended their effort to bar students who are transgender from continuing to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender in the district’s high schools. The lawsuit was filed in 2016 after a student identified as Student A was allowed to use the girls’ locker rooms and restrooms at her high school, rather than being forced to dress and use the restroom in a separate facility from her fellow students. Student A’s use of the locker room was allowed as part of an agreement between the school district and the United States Department of Education finalized in December 2015.
The below statement can be attributed to John Knight, LGBTQ & HIV Advocacy Director, ACLU of Illinois:
“We welcome the end of this case, and hope it encourages District 211 to makes its schools more welcoming for all students, including those who are transgender. District 211 still has some important work to do to make it a place where transgender students are treated fairly and respectfully.
Over the course of nearly three years of litigation, one thing remained clear. There has never been any harm to non-transgender students from sharing restrooms and locker rooms with students whom they perceive as different. The only harm has been to transgender students who have been targeted with fear-mongering and misinformation. Students who are transgender have never been a threat to anyone in this school or elsewhere.
This moment is an opportunity for District 211 to reject this cruelty and become a model for tolerance and humane treatment for all students, including those who are transgender.”
