In a case brought by Transgender Law Center, on behalf of high school senior Ash Whitaker, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I am thrilled that the Seventh Circuit recognized my right to be treated as the boy that I am at school,” Ash said. “After facing daily humiliation at school last year from being threatened with discipline and being constantly monitored by school staff just to use the bathroom, the district court’s injunction in September allowed me to be a typical senior in high school and to focus on my classes, after-school activities, applying to college, and building lasting friendships.”

Transgender Law Center noted that “With this decision, the Seventh Circuit (which covers Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana) is the first federal appeals court to find conclusively that a transgender student has the right to be treated in accordance with the student’s gender identity at school under both Title IX and the Constitution. Notably, it is also the first decision to reach that conclusion without reliance on the Obama Administration’s guidance on schools’ Title IX obligations to transgender students, which the Trump Administration rescinded in February.”

Equality Federation applauds this victory, and calls upon leaders across the nation to consider this ruling as they vote on any future anti-transgender bathroom ban legislation.