US federal judge upholds Ohio school district’s gender-inclusive bathroom policy News
Andy Mabbett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
US federal judge upholds Ohio school district’s gender-inclusive bathroom policy

A US federal judge rejected a lawsuit on Monday brought by parents and students of an Ohio school district that challenged the school district’s bathroom policy. US District Judge Michael Newman found that the Bethel Local School District’s decision to establish a gender-inclusive bathroom policy did not violate the parents’ and students’ US Constitutional rights.

The Bethel Local School District’s current bathroom policy—which went into effect in January 2022—allows students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. The plaintiffs filed a state lawsuit claiming the school district violated the Ohio Open Meetings Act when it allegedly discussed the bathroom policy for transgender students during an executive session at the end of 2021.

In November 2022, the plaintiffs filed a separate federal lawsuit alleging, among other claims, that the school district violated the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of parental rights and First Amendment’s free exercise right. On the issue of the Fourteenth Amendment, the court dismissed the challenge because it found it was a limited right in school settings. The court also dismissed the First Amendment issue because it found that the school district did not suppress religious beliefs through its bathroom policy.

Some plaintiffs also claimed their religious beliefs prevented them from using a communal bathroom while a transgender person is also present. They went onto claim that the school district taught fifth graders about transgender identities through reading projects. Ultimately, the court dismissed nearly all claims for a range of reasons from lack of standing to failure to state a claim.

The decision comes only months after LGBTQ+ rights groups declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people within the US.

The state trial, regarding the potential Ohio Open Meetings Act violation, will take place on January 17, 2024. Since the federal claims were dismissed, there will be no federal trial.

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