A 13-year-old biological male middle school student in Wisconsin has filed a federal lawsuit against his school district for not letting him use girls' bathrooms.
The 31-page complaint claims the Elkhorn Area School District has violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by not letting him use the restroom of his choice.
The student, who is referred to only as "Jane Doe" in the lawsuit, informed the school that he was identifying as "transgender" in 2022. He was then given a “Gender Support Plan,” allowing him to use the faculty bathrooms.
“These restrooms, which were located further away from her classes than the nearest girls’ restrooms, caused Jane to miss class time and to experience distress at being treated differently from other girls at school,” his attorney, Joseph Wardenski, told Wisconsin Public Radio.
The student claims to have started experiencing so-called "gender dysphoria" in third grade but did not inform his family until around the same time that he alerted the school.
“Since then, she has lived in accordance with her female gender identity at school and in all aspects of her life,” Wardenski said. “She uses a traditionally female name, Jane, instead of her traditionally male birth name. She uses the pronouns she, her, and hers, which are pronouns typically used by women and girls. Because Jane is a girl, she wishes to be treated like every other girl at school.”
Superintendent Jason Tadlock told WPR that he has not yet reviewed the lawsuit with an attorney, so he was not comfortable commenting on it.
“That being said, we always strive to meet all our student’s needs, and I am saddened to learn that one of our students and/or parents feel that we are not meeting their needs to their satisfaction,” Tadlock told the station.
WPR reports:Since 2016, Elkhorn’s written policies and staff trainings have recognized that denying transgender students access to and use of sex-specific school facilities corresponding to their gender identity violates federal law.
But during a school board meeting on July 17, 2023, members of the public made statements opposing transgender students’ restroom use. They also raised concerns with the district’s gender support protocols and trainings, according to the complaint.
During that meeting, Tadlock assured the public that the district hadn’t allowed any of the 22 students who identified as trans to use a bathroom that didn’t match their sex assigned at birth, according to the complaint.
The lawyer said it is "really upsetting to see that transgender students are still facing this type of discrimination."
“I think part of it has to do with the ramped-up opposition to transgender students and their rights that we are seeing in Wisconsin and across the country.”
