The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website]
on Tuesday denied [order, PDF] a motion to reconsider a three-judge panel’s ruling [JURIST report] in favor of a transgender Virginia student. The case, G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board [case materials], concerns whether Title IX provides protection to individuals who identify as having a gender other than their birth gender under the clause “discrimination due to sex” and whether the clause requires a school district to allow a transgender boy to use the boy’s restroom while at school. Circuit Judge Floyd said a reason the motion was denied was to help provide an “open road to the Supreme Court to seek the Court’s controlling construction of Title IX for national application … [without] the distraction of subservient issues.”

Transgender access to public restrooms has been a controversial topic and has created a wave of legislative and judicial actions. Last month the Obama administration issued guidance to schools on ensuring “transgender students enjoy a supportive and nondiscriminatory school environment,” prompting a lawsuit [JURIST report] by eleven states. Also last month, the Florida American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against the Marion County school district, challenging their bathroom policy as anti-transgender. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in May challenging North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2.