On Monday, a federal judge dismissed claims made by Ohio parents seeking to prevent their local school district from providing bathroom access for trans students.
The case centered on a trans student Bethel Middle School in Tipp City – 10 miles north of Dayton – who was granted access to a restroom corresponding with her gender identity. This set off contentious school board meetings and multiple lawsuits.
In his decision, Judge Michael J. Newman — an appointee of former U.S. President Donald Trump — rejected the claim made by parents that allowing trans children to use the bathroom was harmful to their cisgender children, establishing legal limits to parents’ rights.
LGBTQ+ advocates are hailing this outcome as a victory.
Bathroom Background
According to the lawsuit, student “Anne Roe,” transferred to Bethel Middle School in January of 2020. Her parents informed the school that their daughter was transgender and the school set up access for Anne to use single-occupancy restrooms scattered across school grounds.
In an affidavit, Anne shared that this arrangement caused her to avoid going to the bathroom during the day, because the restrooms were “frequently occupied whenever she needed to use [them], and she felt ostracized, humiliated, and targeted by other students who taunted her for using the separate bathroom.”
Anne’s parents requested that she be able to use the girls’ communal restroom in addition to the single-occupancy spaces. The school agreed to the request.
The decision set off months of school board meetings that featured anti-trans rhetoric and two lawsuits: a state one – currently ongoing – regarding whether the board’s actions violated open meeting law and a federal one alleging that the school was discriminating against their cisgender children by allowing trans students’ access to restrooms.
‘Not an unqualified right’
Judge Newman was nominated to the federal bench by President Trump in 2020 and confirmed by the United States Senate.
In his decision, he dismissed the claim that the presence of a transgender student in the bathroom is a “substantial burden” to other students.
He repeatedly pushed back on the assertion that parents’ have unfettered rights, using previous case law to determine that these rights are not “unqualified.”
“Although parents have the right to make decisions about where to send their children to school, they do not have a constitutional right to revoke a school’s policy on student bathroom usage,” Newman wrote in his decision.
He further asserted that decisions like the curriculum and prescribing the use of student bathrooms are where parents’ rights end and “are for the school to decide.”
With bills like HB 8 (“The Parents’ Bill of Rights”) currently moving through the Columbus statehouse attempting to declare that parents should have a say in any and all school matters, Newman said that just isn’t so.
“Inventing a constitutional right to strike down a state school’s choices about curriculum and school operations would impermissibly extend that right and, in our pluralistic society, require State schools to cater to inconsistent obligations from parents who may have different moral objections about how a school operates,” Newman wrote.
LGBTQ+ Advocates React
In January, the ACLU of Ohio filed a motion on behalf of Anne Doe, arguing that the public has a strong interest in advancing policies that affirmatively protect transgender students and create inclusive school environments.
After Monday’s decision, David Carey, ACLU of Ohio Deputy Legal Director, noted that this case takes place within a much-larger context of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric stemming from bills proposed by Ohio’s Republican lawmakers.
“Our state has seen a disturbing wave of legislation targeting LGBTQ+ Ohioans, stoking an atmosphere of prejudice and intimidation. But this court’s righteous decision serves as a much-needed reminder: no matter what absurd theories are conjured up to try to justify discrimination, transgender students are entitled to equal treatment and the full protection of the law,” Carey said.
Carey also stressed that although this is a victory to celebrate, the work of protecting LGBTQ+ youth in Ohio is far from over.
“We are thrilled at this result, and we have no intention of letting up.” 🔥
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