The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota has requested to intervene in a lawsuit filed against the Virginia school district and federal authorities over the district's policy allowing students to use school restroom and locker room facilities that correspond with their gender identity.
The ACLU filed a motion Wednesday to become an additional party to the lawsuit on behalf of a transgender student at Virginia High School, identified by the ACLU as Jane Doe, who plays in girls' sports and who ACLU officials claim is "the real target" of the lawsuit. The ACLU noted that the student has received threats since the lawsuit was filed in federal court last month.
"Jane Doe wants what all of us want, to be accepted for who she is and participate as a member of the team, just like any other girl," Charles Samuelson, executive director of ACLU-MN, said in a statement. "It is hard enough being a teenager without being de-humanized and targeted with these false and sensational allegations."
The student's mother, identified by the ACLU as Sarah Doe, said in a statement, "This lawsuit has been devastating to my daughter and our family. She just wants to live a normal life."
A group called Privacy Matters, which includes the families of five girls who attend Virginia High School, alleges in the lawsuit that the Virginia school district is violating student privacy and constitutional rights by allowing a transgender student to use the girls' restrooms and locker rooms at Virginia High School. The group additionally alleges that the district's policy violates Title IX by excluding female students from educational programs.
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The lawsuit was filed in September in U.S. District Court by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based religious legal advocacy nonprofit group. The lawsuit seeks to have the district's policy and the federal guidance on the issue declared unlawful and a permanent injunction issued against both. It also seeks "an award of nominal damages in the amount of one dollar, and compensatory damages" for each plaintiff, along with legal fees.
A lawyer for the group told the News Tribune last month that when the girls' parents brought their concerns to school administration, they found "an unsympathetic school and a very aggressive federal government," so they turned to the legal system.
Privacy Matters is requesting a preliminary injunction against the district's policy. In court documents filed Wednesday, the school district and federal agencies opposed the injunction.
In its filing, the ACLU argues that the lawsuit is seeking to marginalize and segregate the transgender student from her classmates, in addition to depicting her behavior as "threatening or scandalous just because she is transgender."
The student was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2015, according to the ACLU. She began to live as female at that time and both she and her mother requested that she have access to the girls' restrooms and locker rooms. The school district initially required her to use the nurse's office restroom, which was frequently occupied by ill students.
"In addition, the requirement that Jane use separate facilities was stigmatizing. Jane was embarrassed and felt that she was being treated differently because of her transgender status," the motion states.
The student was granted permission by the Minnesota State High School League to participate in girls' sports. That participation has positively affected her emotional health and well-being, making her happier and more confident and have a more positive attitude about school, according to the ACLU.
The ACLU argues that the student's ability to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms is essential to her medical treatment, in addition to positively impacting her overall well-being. Forcing her to use bathrooms that don't correspond to her gender identity, or separate restroom facilities, would interfere with her treatment recommendations and cause "emotional harm and stigma to Jane by requiring her to use separate facilities solely because she is transgender."
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The Virginia school district and federal Education and Justice departments argue in filings this week that Privacy Matters' injunction request won't be likely to "succeed on the merits."
The federal agencies pointed out that the group waited seven months to file the lawsuit and hasn't provided any "evidence of irreparable harm."
An injunction would significantly harm both the transgender student and school district, according to the district and federal filings. The school district argued that an injunction would force the school district to identify the transgender student, which would violate the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.
"The district will have a student who consistently presents as female and dresses in a stereotypical female manner entering the boys' restroom and locker rooms," the district states. It explains that if an injunction is issued, "the district will be forced to identify (the student) as transgender in order to explain to students and staff why a student who presents as a girl is using the boys' facilities."
The district also argues that an injunction would put it in an "impossible position" of choosing between violating the injunction to allow the student to use girls' restrooms and locker rooms or violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act by discriminating against a student based on sexual orientation.
The district states that it began permitting the student to use the girls' restrooms and locker rooms because she identifies as female and because the MSHSL determined that she is eligible to participate in girls' sports.
When the district received complaints from parents, it states in court filings, parents were told the district respects the privacy of all students and high school Principal Lisa Perkovich gave several parents a tour of the facilities available to students. The district also spent $250,000 last school year upgrading its locker rooms to provide individual privacy stalls and individual showers with locking doors, according to the district.
