[JURIST] The parents of an eight-year-old transgender student brought a discrimination suit against her private school, Heritage Oak Private School [school website], located in Yorba Linda, California, and the school’s parent company, Nobel Learning Communities [corporate website] Wednesday. The complaint, filed by the pro-bono organization Public Counsel [advocacy website], alleges [complaint, PDF] that the school made the student wear a boy’s uniform, called her by the wrong name, prohibited her from using the girls’ restroom, and did nothing to prevent her from being bullied by the other students, causing her emotional distress. The complaint also says that California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act [text] prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and that this act applies to private schools if they are for-profit. A spokesperson for Nobel Learning said [Orange County Register report] that the student’s family rejected the accommodations that the school had proposed.

Transgender rights have been an important topic in the US. In July the Texas Senate advanced [JURIST report] a bill that would require people to use the restroom corresponding to the gender listed on their birth certificates or drivers’ licenses. Earlier in July New Jersey signed [JURIST report] a law directing schools to recognize transgender rights. In March 11 states withdrew [JURIST report] a lawsuit against the US government after Obama’s bathroom guidance was overturned. The bathroom guidance was overturned [JURIST report] by the Trump administration in February. A Pennsylvania judge ruled [JURIST report] in February that transgender students could use the bathroom of their choice.