A federal appeals court this week upheld the decision of a lower court that allows transgender students in Indiana to use bathrooms and locker rooms with which they identify.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed the preliminary injunction issued last year by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, ordering two Indiana school districts to provide the proper access to three transgender teenage boys while litigation continues in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the school districts in 2021.
The school districts are Vigo County School Corporation and the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville.
"We are reviewing the decision and evaluating available options," Martinsville Superintendent Eric Bowlen told The Associated Press in an email.
It's expected that the case — or one similar to it from across the country — will eventually make its way before the Supreme Court.
"Litigation over transgender rights is occurring all over the country, and we assume that at some point the Supreme Court will step in with more guidance than it has furnished so far," the three-judge panel wrote as part of its opinion.
The three boys — all minors — legally changed their names to that of boys and have amended birth certificates. They are identified in the court documents as A.C., B.E., and S.E.
The ACLU and Indiana Legal Services filed a lawsuit against the school districts, arguing that restricting the students' use of their preferred restroom violates Title IX protections of 1972 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
"They appear to be boys in the eyes of the State of Indiana," the panel wrote. "If so, then it would be contrary to Indiana law for the school districts to treat A.C., B.E., and S.E. as though they are not boys and to require them to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms."
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