A school district in Wisconsin must allow a transgender student who was born male to use the girls' bathroom, a federal judge ruled.
Judge Lynn Adelman of the Eastern District blocked Mukwonago Area School District from enforcing a policy passed last month which required students to use the restroom that matches the sex they were "assigned at birth." The student privacy policy allowed for case-by-case exceptions.
The mother of an 11-year-old trans student who has allegedly been using the girls' restroom since first grade contested the new policy. The lawsuit said the student has identified as a girl since three years old, NBC reported.
Judge Adelman sided with the parent on July 6, temporarily blocking it, before granting an injunction on Tuesday according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The lawsuit described how the child had been using the girls' restroom after moving to the district in the third grade, "without incident or controversy," and "felt happy and welcomed at school." However, parents began to complain to the school principal in April about the student using the girls' bathroom, according to the Journal Sentinel's coverage of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that after parents started a Facebook group about the concern, the student began experiencing "unprecedented bullying" at the school.
The lawyer for the student's family is asking the court to permanently stop the district from enforcing the policy against the student, arguing it violates Title IX protections.
Judge Adelman cited precedent in Kenosha where a federal judge sided with a transgender student who sued the school district for discrimination regarding their bathroom policy.
In court documents, the federal judge said it was likely the student would win the suit, ruling the student could face "irreparable harm" if forced to comply with school policy while the case is open.
The lawsuit was filed just a few days after the policy was passed by the school board, according to a memo put out by the district on July 3.
"On Friday, June 30th, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm filed a lawsuit against the Mukwonago Area School District in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The federal lawsuit challenges the School Board's recently approved Board Policy 5514 - Student Privacy in Restrooms and Locker Rooms. The plaintiffs also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to immediately stop the District from implementing the policy," Mukwonago Area School District Superintendent Joe Koch wrote.
The superintendent acknowledged Adelman's July 6 ruling while defending school policy in another memo.
"The District will continue to defend Policy 5514 in the interest of protecting the safety, privacy, and wellness of all students. We will also continue to keep the community informed as this case proceeds through the litigation process," he wrote.
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The school district did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
