Timothy Corrigan

“ Once a transgender student comes forward to identify herself or himself, an adult staff member meets with the student to discuss a variety of issues, including whether the student wants to be called a different name, whether the student’s family is aware of the situation, whether a referral to any outside resources would be helpful to the student or the family, whether the student has disclosed his or her gender identity to others, whether the student is engaged in extracurricular activities or sports where support may be needed, and what restroom the student wants to use. ”

“ According to Glenn, “ [a] person is defined as transgender precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes. The very acts that define transgender people as transgender are those that contradict stereotypes of gender-appropriate appearance and behavior.” 663 F.3d at 1316 (quotation and citations omitted) . Thus, “discrimination against a transgender individual because of her gender-nonconformity is sex discrimination, whether it’s described as being on the basis of sex or gender.” ”

“ Minor children are involved here and the concerns of their parents and school administrators charged with their safety cannot be minimized. Moreover, of all the areas in a school, bathrooms are where privacy considerations are at their peak. So, even if a school is otherwise prepared to accept a student as transgender, it is not surprising that allowing transgender students to use restrooms aligned with their gender identity is not an easy step. ”

“ There is no doubt that the teachers and administrators of Nease High School and the St. Johns County School District are caring professionals who have the best interests of their students at heart. Likewise, Drew Adams presented himself as a polite, forthright individual who is, without rancor, seeking to vindicate his civil rights. ”

“ Before the medical profession gained its current understanding of gender identity, some practices involved attempts to force transgender people to live in accordance with the sex assigned to them at birth, but those attempts failed and caused significant harm. ”

“ For the same reasons cited above, the privacy rights guaranteed under the Florida Constitution are not endangered when transgender students use multi-stall school restrooms that match their gender identity, particularly where all students have the option to avail themselves of the privacy afforded by the multi-stall and gender-neutral single-stall bathrooms. ”

“ Some of Nease’s classrooms are in portable buildings. There are no gender-neutral bathrooms or faculty bathrooms near those classrooms, and the multi-stall single-sex bathrooms there have very few stalls. The principal said that faculty assigned to teach in the portable classrooms sometimes use the multi-stall single-sex bathrooms. The undersigned observed that the boys’ locker room is an open space with no room for privacy while changing. There is a bathroom available in the coach’s office, but the principal said it is not available to use for changing. ”

“ A transgender individual is someone who “‘consistently, persistently, and insistently’ identifies as a gender different than the sex they were assigned at birth.” Id. at 7. A 2016 publication estimated that 1.4 million transgender adults are living in the United States, 0.6 percent of the adult population. Id. at 4. “Gender identity is distinct from and does not predict sexual orientation; transgender people, like cisgender [non-transgender] people, may identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or asexual.” ”

“ Notably, for some transgender students, the policy the school currently has may be sufficient, as the evidence revealed that not every transgender student is prepared to use the restroom corresponding to their gender identity. ”

“ Finding that Title IX does not define the ambiguous terms “sex” and “on the basis of sex” for purposes of their application to transgender students, many courts have looked to decisions interpreting other anti-discrimination statutes, particularly Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on, among other things, sex. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. See, e.g., Boyertown, 893 F.3d at 195, n.103 (“Courts have frequently looked to Title VII authority for guidance with Title IX cases.”) ”

“ As for the safety aspect, the School Board seeks to assure that members of the opposite sex are not in an unsupervised bathroom together, citing as an example the risks of danger posed to a female freshman student who might find herself alone in the restroom with an 18-year old male student. ”

“ The Broward County Public Schools support guide for LGBTQ issues references gender fluidity within its definition of “genderqueer,” saying individuals who are genderqueer “typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation.” Doc. 151, Pl. Ex. 66 at 10. The District of Columbia Public Schools defines gender fluidity as conveying “a wider, more flexible range of gender expression, with interests and behaviors that may change, even from day to day. ”

“ Safety The School Board also cites student safety as a basis to uphold its bathroom policy, expressing concern for transgender students who may be bullied or harassed in the bathroom matching their gender identity and for cisgender students who may not feel safe if a person with genitalia of the opposite sex is in the restroom with them. ”

“ The Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline considers the standard of care for some adults and adolescents with gender dysphoria or who seek gender affirmance to include hormone treatment which, for a transgender male, will alter the appearance of the genitals, suppress menstruation, and produce secondary sex characteristics such as increased muscle mass, increased body hair on the face, chest, and abdomen, and a deepening of the voice. ”

“ The Pediatric Endocrine Society states that not allowing students to use the restroom matching their gender identity promotes further discrimination and segregation of a group that already faces discrimination and safety concerns. ”

“ While the Court viewed the locker room and showers as part of its tour of Nease, Adams did not attempt to show that the School Board policy as it relates to locker rooms and shower facilities has caused him any harm. Thus, the Court’s analysis of Adams’ claims does not include consideration of his use of the boys’ locker room or shower facilities and the Court’s rulings do not apply to those spaces. Outside of case citations, references to “restrooms” or “bathrooms” within this section of the opinion do not include those located in the locker room or shower facilities. ↑ See Fla. Const. art. ”

“ Transgender students typically seek privacy and discreteness in restroom use and try to avoid exposing any parts of their genitalia that would reveal sex characteristics inconsistent with their gender identity. ”

“ As Adams testified, with every step of the transition, he feels even better: “I don’t hate myself anymore. And I don’t hate the person I am. I don’t hate my body anymore. There are some parts I don’t like, of course, but I don’t look at myself and think all those negative thoughts anymore.” Id. at Tr. 106. Adams only sees his therapist now on an as-needed basis, less often than he previously did, and he is not taking any medications for anxiety or depression. ”

“ The Court also finds that Nease faculty and staff have operated in good faith and tried to accommodate Adams’ situation, lessening the emotional trauma. Nevertheless, while there was no expert testimony about a diagnosis of gender dysphoria for Adams, the Court is persuaded by the evidence that he suffered emotional damage, stigmatization and shame from not being permitted to use the boys’ restroom at school. ”

“ Diane Ehrensaft, a developmental and clinical psychologist who studies and specializes in treating transgender children and adolescents, there are a number of components that determine a person’s gender: external genitalia, internal sex organs, chromosomal sex, gonadal sex, fetal hormonal sex, hypothalamic sex, pubertal hormonal sex, neurological sex, and gender identity and role. ”

“ Based on her experience in meeting with these adults, Kefford’s opinion is that “people are afraid of what they don’t understand ... [and] a lot of that fear [is because] they haven’t experienced it, they don’t know enough about it, and the first thing that comes to mind is this person wants to go into this bathroom for some other purpose. ”

“ The School District has agreed to treat Adams as a boy in all other respects, but its position is that Adams’ enrollment documents and official school records identify him as a female, and he has not presented any evidence that he is a “biological male.” Doc. 161 at Tr. 229–36, 253; Doc. 162 at Tr. 12–13, 35–36; Doc. 173-1 at ¶¶ 42–43. The School District maintains that Adams is welcome to use the gender-neutral bathrooms or the girls’ bathroom. [30] Doc. 161 at Tr. 250–51. But he cannot use the boys’ bathroom. ”

“ Gender fluid children do not feel confined by restrictive boundaries of stereotypical expectations of girls or boys ... . [A] child may feel they are a girl some days and a boy on others, or a combination, or possibly feel that neither term describes them accurately. ”

“ Discounting the locker room, there are a total of ten bathroom stalls available in the boys’ restrooms on the Nease campus. Id. at Tr. 133. All of the boys’ restrooms have a set of urinals and stalls with doors. ”

“ For the reasons stated here, the motion is denied. ↑ The FHSAA (which governs competitive interscholastic sports at Florida high schools (including Nease) and allows students to play on teams based on their gender identity) apparently finds Title IX’s use of the word “sex” includes “gender identity.” See 34 C.F.R. § 106.41 (b) (Title IX regulation governing athletics, stating that schools may operate “separate teams for members of each sex”) . ↑ The School Board argues that a finding that its policy violates the Equal Protection Clause renders Title IX unconstitutional. ”

“ As the Supreme Court has explained, “ [c] ongressional inaction lacks persuasive significance because several equally tenable inferences may be drawn from such inaction, including the inference that the existing legislation already incorporated the offered change.” Pension Benefit Guar. ”

“ Comm., 555 U.S. 246, 259 (2009) (“Title IX exempts from its restrictions several activities that may be challenged on constitutional grounds;” some of which “may form the basis of equal protection claims.”) (citations omitted) ; see also Boyertown, 893 F.3d at 195 (noting that “Title IX does not require [schools to] provide separate privacy facilities for the sexes”) . ↑ The Supreme Court subsequently remanded G.G. for further consideration of the Title IX claim, 137 S. Ct. ”