I Am Glad That I Live In A Blue State

Yesterday I received this press release from the Director of Outreach and Special Projects, CT Attorney General Office…

Dear Friends,

We thought you might be interested in the brief filed today by a coalition of 20 attorneys general, including Connecticut, in A.C. v. Metropolitan School District of Martinsville. Our brief opposes the school district’s efforts to bar a transgender male student from using the boys’ bathroom. The 13-year-old student, A.C., was forced to use a single-sex restroom located in the school's medical clinic rather than be allowed to use any of the boys’ restrooms throughout the school. 

The brief — filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit — argues for the court to affirm a lower court ruling requiring the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, Indiana to allow A.C. to use the boys’ bathroom. The coalition of attorneys general note that preventing a transgender student from using a school restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by denying transgender boys and girls access to the same common restrooms that other boys and girls may use. The amicus brief also demonstrates that inclusive policies that maintain sex-segregated spaces while permitting transgender people to use a facility that aligns with their gender identity help to ease the stigma transgender people often experience, with positive effects for their educational and health outcomes. 

The brief also notes that over 1.6 million people in the United States, including approximately 300,000 youth between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, identify as transgender. Despite these Americans’ significant contributions to their communities, they unfortunately often experience discrimination that limits their ability to realize their potential and that transgender youth experience levels of discrimination, violence, and harassment that exceed those experienced by their cisgender counterparts. The attorneys’ general amicus brief demonstrates that protecting transgender people from discrimination yields broad benefits without compromising privacy or safety, and that nondiscriminatory restroom policies produce important benefits and pose no safety concerns. 

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions. Thank you for the work you do.

Warm regards,
Lori

I am glad that I live in Connecticut!

There are differences between Red and Blue.