JONATHAN STEMPEL – 31 December 2022 – Reuters
Dec 30 (Reuters) – A sharply divided federal appeals court on Friday upheld a Florida high school’s policy forbidding transgender students from using bathrooms that accord with their chosen identities.
In a 7-4 vote, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the St. Johns County school board did not violate the U.S. Constitution or federal civil rights law by requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.
The policy had been challenged by Drew Adams, a transgender man who sued in 2017 after being barred from using the boys’ bathroom when he attended the Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He had instead been required to use girls’ or gender-neutral bathrooms.
“This is an aberrant ruling that contradicts the rulings of every other circuit to consider the question across the country,” Tara Borelli, a lawyer with Lambda Legal representing Adams, said in a statement. “We will be reviewing and evaluating this dangerous decision over the weekend.”…
