AG HEALEY JOINS COALITION ADVOCATING FOR
TRANSGENDER STUDENTS’ RIGHTS
Coalition of 15 Attorneys General File
Brief to Protect an Indiana
Transgender Student Against Gender-Based Discrimination
BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General
Maura Healey today joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in filing a
brief in support of a
13-year-old Indiana transgender boy who is suing his school district for
banning him from using the boys’ bathrooms, instead forcing him to use a
single-sex restroom located in the school’s medical clinic.
The brief, filed today
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, urges the appeals court
to affirm a lower court ruling requiring the Metropolitan School District of
Martinsville, Indiana to allow the student to use the boys’ bathrooms in his
school. The coalition argues that preventing a transgender student from using a
school restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity violates Title IX
of the Education Amendments of 1972 by denying transgender students access to
the same common restrooms as cisgender students.
“Trans kids deserve the right to be their full authentic selves
at school,” AG Healey said. “Discriminatory policies like this one stigmatize
transgender children and put them at risk. I’m joining my colleagues in calling
on the court to protect their rights.”
According to the brief, over 1.6 million people in the United
States, including approximately 300,000 youth between the ages of 13 and 17,
identify as transgender. Transgender students experience discrimination,
violence and harassment at rates that far exceed their cisgender peers.
Today’s brief is a
continuation of AG Healey’s ongoing advocacy for the equal rights of LGBTQI+
individuals. Earlier this year, AG Healey joined a coalition of attorneys
general in filing an amicus brief opposing an Arkansas law that prohibits healthcare
professionals from providing transgender teenagers with medically necessary
care. Last year, AG Healey was part of a coalition of attorneys general who
filed an amicus brief in support of a transgender student who
sued the St. Johns County School Board in Florida for gender identity
discrimination. In 2017, she joined an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court in support
of a transgender student suing his school in Gloucester County, Virginia for
gender identity discrimination. In 2016, AG Healey worked closely with
advocates, the business community, and transgender families to successfully
garner support for the passage of an amendment to Massachusetts’ Public
Accommodations Law protecting against discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Joining AG Healey in filing the brief are the attorneys general
of California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New
York, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.
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