Clinton-appointed judge blocks school district from keeping boys out of girl’s bathrooms

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – A judge appointed by President Bill Clinton blocked a Wisconsin school district Thursday from enforcing a policy that keeps boys from using the girl’s bathroom, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman granted a temporary restraining order against Mukwonago Area School District, blocking the district from implementing a policy adopted last month that requires students to use bathrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The decision is in response to a lawsuit by a mother and her anonymous 11-year-old son, who identifies as a girl, which alleged that the policy was causing “emotional and mental” harm to the student.

“The court held, among other things, that a ‘policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender non-conformance,’” Adelman wrote, according to the outlet. “The court further held that ‘[p]roviding a gender-neutral alternative is not sufficient to relieve the School District from liability, as it is the policy itself which violates [Title IX].’ These holdings give [the] plaintiff a likelihood of success on her claims.”

The district unanimously passed a policy in June that required students to use all facilities on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, according to TMJ4. The lawsuit alleges that school district officials have monitored the transgender student and require the 11-year-old to use a gender-neutral or boy’s restroom, the Associated Press reported.

Since the lawsuit, the district has been using a new policy which allows the administration to make exceptions for students on a case-by-case basis, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The district told the outlet that it has provided the 11-year-old with a “trusted adult” to support the student during the summer school session.

Across the country, lawmakers, administration and parents are debating whether facilities and sports teams should be separated on the basis of biological sex or gender identity. In Texas, a recently flipped conservative school board voted in June to pass a policy that prohibits boys from using the girl’s bathroom. A Florida school district reversed its policy in January and requires students to use bathrooms on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity.

Mukwonago Area School District did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.