Indiana court orders middle school to open boys’ restroom to transgender student

Brooke Migdon | May 3, 2022
·2 min read

Story at a glance

  • A judge on Friday ordered an Indiana middle school to allow a transgender student to use the school’s boys’ restrooms.

  • The preliminary injunction comes after a lawsuit was filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana and Indiana Legal Services on behalf of a 13-year-old transgender boy at John R. Wooden Middle School.

  • The complaint alleges that the school in denying the child access to the boys’ restroom has violated his 14th Amendment rights and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

An Indiana judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction requiring a Martinsville middle school to allow a transgender student to use the restroom consistent with his gender identity.

The injunction follows a lawsuit filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana and Indiana Legal Services on behalf of a 13-year-old transgender boy who was denied access to the boys’ restroom at John R. Wooden Middle School.

The boy, who is pseudonymously named A.C. in the complaint because he is a minor, alleges in the lawsuit that school officials instructed him to use a single-sex restroom located in the school’s medical clinic rather than any of the boys’ restrooms. This proved difficult for A.C., who felt isolated from his peers and was often late to classes that were far from the clinic.

A.C. has been using male pronouns and a masculine name since he was 9 years old, according to the complaint, which also states that denying him access to the boys’ restroom violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

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On Friday, District Court Chief Judge Tanya Welton Pratt ordered John R. Wooden Middle School to grant A.C. access to the school’s male facilities while litigation continues.

“The overwhelming majority of federal courts – including the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit – have recently examined transgender education-discrimination claims under Title IX and concluded that preventing a transgender student from using a school restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity violates Title IX,” Welton Pratt wrote Friday. “This Court concurs.”

In a statement, ACLU of Indiana Attorney Stevie Pactor said public schools and legislators should “take notice.”

“The law is clear: denying transgender students their right to use the correct restroom is discrimination,” he said.

“We are happy that, with this order, our client will have the same opportunities as his peers to learn, grow, and succeed at school,” Megan Stuart, a case attorney for Indiana Legal Services, said Friday. “His worries should be about things like homework and friendships, not whether he can use a restroom.”

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