Students sue Oklahoma Education Department over enforcement of transgender ‘bathroom bill’

Students sue Oklahoma Education Department over enforcement of transgender ‘bathroom bill’

Three transgender students in Oklahoma are suing the state Department of Education over a controversial law enacted in May that prevents them from using school restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Oklahoma, attorneys for transgender students attending Oklahoma City area schools claim Senate Bill 615 violates the U.S. Constitution and Title IX by discriminating on the basis of sex, gender identity and transgender status. 

Under the measure, signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) in May, all pre-K through 12th grade public schools and public charter schools in the state are required to restrict the use of multiple occupancy restrooms and changing rooms based on students’ sex assigned at birth.

School boards under the law are charged with creating a disciplinary policy for transgender students who violate the new restriction, and the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) must penalize schools that do not comply with the law with a 5 percent reduction in state funding.

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Tuesday’s lawsuit names OSDE, members of the state Board of Education, four Oklahoma school districts and Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister — the Democratic nominee for governor — as defendants.

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor (R) is also listed as a defendant in the complaint. In a May statement following Stitt’s signature on the measure, O’Connor said he stood ready to defend the new law from any forthcoming legal challenges.

O’Connor’s office said it could not comment on the complaint at this time.

The complaint filed Tuesday alleges the plaintiffs, all of which are transgender minors, will be “irreparably harmed” by the law and requests that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma issue a preliminary injunction to block its enforcement.

Similar measures restricting public restroom use for transgender people have been blocked by court orders in North Carolina and Tennessee. An Alabama law preventing transgender students from using school facilities that match their gender identity took effect in May.

Proponents for such legislation have argued that it is necessary to protect students and others from predators that may take advantage of trans-inclusive policies. A 2018 study by researchers at the Williams Institute found that those fears are not “empirically grounded.”

“I am a boy, and while living authentically hasn’t always been easy, it’s given me a sense of relief and happiness,” Andy Bridge, one of the plaintiffs in Tuesday’s lawsuit, said in a statement released by his attorneys at Lambda Legal.

According to the lawsuit, Bridge, a 16-year-old senior at Noble High School, used the school’s boys’ restrooms last year without issue. But prior to the start of the current school year, Bridge and his mother were informed by school officials that he would have to use a single-occupancy restroom this year because he is transgender.

If Bridge continues to use the boys’ restroom, he will be subject to disciplinary action, the school’s principal and vice principal told them, according to the complaint.

“Being able to use the boys’ restroom might seem like a small thing to others, but it is a vital step in my transition,” Bridge said Tuesday. “Being barred from using it leaves me singled out and excluded from the rest of my friends and classmates, but also feeling like I’m being told that I’m not worthy of the same respect and dignity as everyone else.”

Source: TEST FEED1