Privacy in Bathrooms and Locker Rooms
OVERVIEW
In August 2021, Loudon County, VA approved a new policy on Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students. The policy states, “All students are entitled to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that are sanitary, safe, and adequate…Students shall be allowed to use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender identity.”
During the following three months, a student committed a sexual assault in a girl’s bathroom, a victim’s father was arrested while trying to confront the school board over the assault, high schoolers staged a walk-out to protest the schools’ handling of the incident, teachers sued because the policy violated their First Amendment rights, the School District’s chief of staff was fired, and the case became a focus of heated debate during the race for governor.
LEGAL INFORMATION
- Alliance Defending Freedom: Current case law
- Three states have enacted laws to assure bathroom privacy (see Columns J-K)
- Model Legislation:
- Oklahoma SB 615
- Department of Education Actions:
- 2015 Resolution Agreement Allowing a Transgender Student’s Access to a High School Girl’s Locker Room
- 2016 Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students
OTHER TITLE IX PROBLEM AREAS
Return to Title IX Network page.