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Claiming that restroom restrictions represent a reason for feeling stigmatized, a transgender student at Eastern Virginia High School is suing school officials. Gavin Grimm, 16, has filed a lawsuit on Thursday with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The lawsuit against the school board in Gloucester County claims that the unnecessary bathroom restrictions that have recently been imposed have stigmatized the 16-year-old student. Initially, Grimm had used communal restrooms for a period of approximately two months.
Later on, the school district adopted a new restroom policy which requires transgender students to use different, private facilities. This modification is the result of several complaints stemming from local residents.
Grimm was born a female, however, his gender identity is male and as such, he began using the boys’ restroom before the new policy was enforced.
In Grimm’s lawsuit, his legal team makes the argument that the boy felt he needed to avoid using a restroom altogether during school hours so as not to feel the stigma of having to use separate facilities.
The lawsuit also contains details about Grimm’s medical condition (gender dysphoria) which involves distress caused by the constant conflict between the assigned gender that a person receives at birth and the actual gender identity of that person. BY age 6, the lawsuit details, Grimm stopped wearing girl’s clothes altogether and by age nine, he had already informed his friends and colleagues of his true gender identity.
Although not singular across the US, Grimm’s lawsuit is the first ever such legal pursuit in Virginia.
The Gloucester County School Board is scheduled to meet on the 18th of June, Gloucester County Attorney Ted Wilmot explains. It’s only then that the complaint will be thoroughly discussed and that until such time, he would not be offering comments on the matter.
In April 2014, Grimm spoke to his parents about his gender identity issues and began treatment under a psychologist’s supervision.
According to Grimm’s lawsuit, the boy is now amid a critical social transition period during which the transgender teenager has to undergo a full transition process, including restroom access.
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