January 14, 2023

5 Key Points:

1. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked to intervene in a legal case against the Bethel Local Schools in Ohio over access to restroom facilities for transgender students.

2. The suit, Doe v. Bethel, seeks an injunction to bar transgender students from access to the gender identity restrooms.

3. The school district has declined to comment on the matter, citing pending litigation.

4. The ACLU argues that the school's accommodation is appropriate and should not be disturbed by court order, as it helps protect transgender students from discrimination and bullying.

5. The public has a strong interest in advancing policies that affirmatively protect transgender students and create inclusive school environments, the ACLU contends.

Bethel Schools Transgender Policy Under Fire, ACLU Intervenes

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is seeking to intervene in a legal action that was filed against the Bethel Local Schools in Miami County, Ohio, over access to restroom facilities for transgender students. The ACLU has asked the U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio to allow it to intervene on behalf of a transgender student in the case Doe v. Bethel. The suit challenges the district's decision allowing transgender students to use communal restrooms consistent with their gender identity and seeks an injunction to bar transgender students from access to the gender identity restrooms.

The ACLU argues that the school's accommodation is appropriate and should not be disturbed by court order. According to the organization, transgender students all too often suffer from discrimination and bullying. The school's current approach helps to protect them from being singled out, suffering humiliation, and being exposed to serious risks of harm. The ACLU contends that the public has a strong interest in advancing policies that affirmatively protect transgender students and create inclusive school environments. Prohibiting transgender girls from using the girls' restrooms would subject them to social stigma and deny them equal access to the education afforded to all other students.

The lawsuit was filed in November in federal court by parents and the America First Legal organization. It seeks orders negating the district's transgender restroom facility and other related policies. The complaint was filed on behalf of parents and students identified as John and Jane Does and children, both boys and girls, it says they are in grades ranging from third through ninth in the Bethel district. The complaint centers on the board of education's change in January 2022 of rules for intimate facilities from providing restrooms shared only by persons of the same biological sex to allowing students to use the facilities of their preferred gender identity.

The complaint alleges that the district's policy has caused issues for Muslim, Christian, and other students, some who "hold their urine and avoid using the restroom at school if at all possible. If the students have to use the restroom it causes them anxiety and emotional distress because of Bethel's policies." The complaint also alleges that the district is providing an opportunity of communal intimate facilities to transgender students but not for others.

The Bethel Local Schools have declined to comment on the matter citing pending litigation. It is yet to be seen how the court will rule on the ACLU's motion to intervene in the case. The outcome of the case will have significant implications for the rights of transgender students and the policies of schools across the country.

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