Pennsylvania judge rules against school district in transgender bathroom case

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has issued an injunction against a school district policy that prohibited three transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity.

In October the three transgender senior students filed a lawsuit against Pine-Richland School District north of Pittsburgh after the administrators enforced a policy that required them to use bathrooms that corresponded to their biological gender.

The policy was instituted after some parents and students complained about having to use restrooms with the opposite sex. It was intended to be a temporary solution while administrators are considering a more permanent solution. According to World, there are 10 unisex restrooms in the school that are available for all students.

The injunction that was issued by U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak on Monday will allow the students to use bathrooms of their choice while their case against the school proceeds in court.

Hornak predicted that the plaintiffs, two biological males who identify as female and one biological female who identifies as male, were likely to win the case on equal protection grounds.

He said that the school district failed to present evidence that the students violated anyone's "physical or visual privacy."

"Other than perhaps one report received by the high school principal in October 2015 from a student that 'there was a boy' in the girls bathroom ... followed by a parent inquiry along the same lines in early 2016, there have been no reports of 'incidents' where the use of a common restroom by any one of the plaintiffs has caused any sort of alarm to any other student," the judge wrote.

Hornak argued that both the boys' and girls' bathrooms have locking, enclosed stalls, while the urinals at the boys' bathrooms have privacy screens.

One of the students, Elissa Ridenour, 18, said that she was relieved to hear the news about the ruling, and she and the other students will start using bathrooms of their choice.

"Even though it's such a small win, it really is huge in this respect. I'm very happy and it's a relief," she said.

The ruling came after the administration of President Donald Trump rescinded federal guidelines that allowed transgender students to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identities. The administration said that the issue will now be left to the states, not the federal government.