Why Did Laverne Cox Tell Everyone to Search #StandWithGavin?

Jennifer Gerson Uffalussy
·Contributing Writer
Laverne Cox is asking people to look up Gavin Grimm, a transgender teenager whose case is about to go to the Supreme Court. (Photo: Getty Images)
Laverne Cox is asking people to look up Gavin Grimm, a transgender teenager whose case is about to go to the Supreme Court. (Photo: Getty Images)

Before introducing Lady Gaga and Metallica at the Grammy Awards Sunday night, Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox told attendees and home viewers: “Everyone, please Google ‘Gavin Grimm.’ He’s going to the Supreme Court in March. #StandWithGavin.”

#GavinGrimm is going to the #SCOTUS March 28 to fight for the rights of trans folks all over this nation and his right to be treated like all the other boys in his high school. Gavin is only 17 years old. This is the first case the Supreme Court will hear about trans rights. The decision will affect whether trans folks have the right to exist in public space for decades to come.#StandwithGavin #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransIsBeautiful

A video posted by laverne cox (@lavernecox) on Feb 12, 2017 at 10:31pm PST

And who is Grimm? The 17-year-old boy became one of the most prominent faces for the rights of transgender students in America after he sued his local school board in Gloucester County, Va., in 2015. Gavin had come out to his friends as transgender after middle school and to his parents after his freshman year of high school. During the beginning of his sophomore year, he began to reintroduce himself to his peers and teachers using male pronouns and his new chosen name. And he also, with the full OK of the principal, began using the school’s male restrooms.

As members of the community learned of Gavin — and his innocuous use of the bathroom that corresponds to his gender identity while at school — the county school board decided to formally take up the issue, ultimately voting that students must use the bathroom that corresponds to their “biological gender.” Grimm then sued the Gloucester School Board for violating his civil rights.

After a lower court ruled in Grimm’s favor, the school board appealed. Last spring, Grimm’s case, filed on his behalf by the national American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia, reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District. The court ruled that, according to the Obama administration’s position that transgender students are protected from discrimination based on their gender identity under Title IX, Grimm should be able to use the restroom that aligns with his gender identity.

The school board appealed again — and now the Supreme Court is hearing the case in March.

#StandwithGavin he is going to #SCOTUS in March. He is just 17 years old and wants the same rights as every other boys in his high school.

A photo posted by laverne cox (@lavernecox) on Feb 12, 2017 at 7:34pm PST

During their campaign for the White House, now-Vice President Mike Pence promised that a Trump administration would ensure that the Obama administration’s stance on transgender student rights under Title IX would be overturned. That’s not surprising considering that, while governor of Indiana, Pence came out in favor of laws that ban transgender Americans from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. More recently, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice chose not to contest a judge’s injunction barring Texas students from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, thus not adhering to the guidelines on the topic issued by the Obama administration.

Read More:

Would You Let This Girl Use the Men’s Bathroom?

Transgender Women Rule the Beauty World

Laverne Cox Shines Bright as Lady Liberty on the Cover of Entertainment Weekly

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