The Courts.

For now we are on a winning streak in the federal courts but it will not last with Trump packing the court with judges who put the Bible before the Constitution.

Federal Courts Are Standing Up for the Sanctity of Transgender Lives
SLATE
By Scott Skinner-Thompson
June 21, 2018


While the Trump administration’s attacks on transgender people have continued apace, federal courts are ruling in favor of transgender rights at an unprecedented rate. This week, following a string of victories for trans plaintiffs, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania school district policy permitting transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to the students’ gender identities. The decision in Doe v. Boyertown Area School District is a significant victory for transgender rights in several respects.

First, the court easily concluded that permitting transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identities did not in any way threaten the privacy of cisgender students using those spaces. The court noted that mere discomfort about being in the presence of transgender students does not implicate a constitutional privacy interest. And, in any event, the school district’s policy did not force any students to expose their body to anyone else, because single-user bathroom and showering spaces were available to all students—including the plaintiffs who objected to the presence of transgender students.

Moreover, the court observed that to the extent there was any privacy violation, the district’s policy of inclusion was sufficiently compelling to outweigh that privacy violation because it protected transgender students from being marginalized and excluded. The balance of interests tilted decisively in favor of protecting transgender people and allowing them to exist in public space. Excluding transgender students from bathrooms that correspond to their gender identities would “publicly brand all transgender students with a scarlet ‘T,’ ” inviting scrutiny and possibly scorn. (To be clear, transgender people have everything to be proud of, but they should not be forced into situations where they feel conspicuous or excluded). The court went further, noting that the policy, in fact, benefited all students by promoting a spirit of inclusivity, acceptance, and tolerance.

But there is always a chance that the case would be appealed and each time it is heard it’s a crap shoot. And as the Supreme Courts shows it all boils down to one judge.

And I dread to think about if Trump gets to appoint another Supreme Court judge… OMG!