A Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that students must be allowed to use locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

The appeal stems from a case in which a transgender high school student, referred to as N.H., was threatened discipline should he continue to use the boys’ locker room. N.H. was born female but has socially transitioned to male. During his freshman year, N.H. joined the boys swim team and was initially allowed to use the boys’ locker room. Later, N.H.’s mother was informed that N.H. would be disciplined should he continue to use the main boys’ locker room.

In 2019, N.H.’s mother filed suit in Anoka County “alleging one count of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) … and one count of violating the equal-protection provisions of article I, sections 1 and 7 of the Minnesota Constitution, and withdrew the charge filed at the MDHR.” The district court denied the school district’s motion to dismiss the suit but applied a strict scrutiny standard to N.H.’s claims.

The appeals court ultimately concluded that N.H. presented a claim upon which relief could be granted. “We affirm the district court’s denial of the school district’s motion to dismiss, reverse on the application of strict scrutiny, conclude that intermediate scrutiny applies to N.H.’s equal-protection claim, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”