A transgender student filed suit against a suburban Chicago school district for not giving the student access into girls' locker rooms.
The student, who is biologically male but has identified as female for many years, had requested for the school to give her access to the girls' locker rooms. When the district denied her request, the student filed a complaint.
The complaint states that such denial violates sex nondiscrimination protections of Title IX.
Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois' LGBT Program John Knight, who is representing the transgender student, asserts that the district's decision is "blatant discrimination, no matter how the district tries to couch it," according to the Chicago Tribune.
"We're talking about somebody who is being denied fair and equal treatment as compared to the other students, only because she is transgender," Knight said.
District 211 Superintendent Daniel Cates, however, maintains that the student is being treated fairly and that the district is sensitive to the challenges of transgender students. Accordingly, the student has been allowed use restrooms in accordance with the identified gender, to change names on official district documents, and to play on girls' athletic teams.
When it comes to the issue of locker room access, Cates said that a private changing area was provided for the student.
"This is about matters of student privacy. What they are asking us to do is have opposite sex students in the same open area of the locker room and that we do not do. This is a matter we take very seriously and this policy would undo that," Cates told Christian Headlines regarding the issue of full locker room access.
Cates recognizes that there is a possibility of loss in federal funding for the district if it cannot come to a compromise with federal officials, which includes $6 million in Title IX funds to prohibit sex discrimination.
