Indiana School board eyes next steps after judge permits trans teens to use boys restroom

(The Center Square) – Vigo County, Indiana school officials are considering next steps after a federal judge ruled two transgender students must be allowed to use the boys restroom and locker room.

The students, who attend Terre Haute Vigo County North High School, identify themselves as male though their birth certificates list them as female, and both suffer from gender dysphoria according to the complaint filed by the ACLU.

Gender dysphoria is a psychiatric condition in which a person feels mismatched with the gender assigned to them at birth. According to the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the condition can result in depression, anxiety and increased risk of self-harm.

School officials had refused to allow the students, who have presented themselves as boys since elementary school, to use male-designated restrooms and locker rooms, but offered the compromise of using the single restroom in the school health office.

Lawyers argued the restroom was too far from classrooms to facilitate use between classes and being forced to use either that or the female restroom would deepen their anxiety and depression causing irreparable harm.

The judge agreed.  Justice James R. Sweeney found being denied access to boys facilities could have a life-long effect on their well-being.

Sweeny stated, “When balancing this harm against the harm Defendants would face if preliminary relief were granted, and when considering the impact of preliminary relief on the public as a whole, the Court finds that the balance tips in favor of Plaintiffs and an injunction.”

Stacy Killion, president of the Vigo County School Corporation board, told The Center Square, “We are aware of the decision and are reviewing the decision with our counsel in evaluating next steps.”

The injunction, issued last week, does not extend to using male-designated showers.

Representatives from the ACLU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both students were freshmen when the case was filed last fall. Classes resume on Aug. 11.