In Doe v. Boyertown Area School Dist., 893 F.3d 179 (3d Cir.2018), the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from an appellate court opinion holding that a public school may adopt a policy permitting transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity as opposed to the sex they were determined to have at birth.
In this case, a group of high school students who identify as being the same sex they were determined to have at birth – i.e., cisgender – challenged a public school’s policy permitting transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity as opposed to the sex they were determined to have at birth because the cisgender students believe the policy violated their constitutional rights of bodily privacy, as well as Title IX, and Pennsylvania tort law.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the cisgender students and concluded that, under the circumstances in this case, the presence of transgender students in the locker and restrooms is no more offensive to constitutional or Pennsylvania-law privacy interests than the presence of the other students who are not transgender. Nor does their presence infringe on the plaintiffs’ rights under Title IX. See Doe v. Boyertown Area School Dist., 3d Cir. Case No. 17-3113 (July 26, 2018).
To read the order of the United States Supreme Court declining to hear the appeal, click here.
To read the decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, here.
Authors: Matthew John Markling and the McGown & Markling Team.
Note: This blog entry does not constitute – nor does it contain – legal advice. Legal jurisprudence is like the always changing Midwestern weather. As a result, this single blog entry cannot substitute for consultation with a McGown & Markling attorney. If legal advice is needed with respect to a specific factual situation, please feel free to contact a McGown & Markling attorney.