Drew Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County, FL (U.S.C.A. 11th Circuit, 2019)

This case involves Equal Protection Clause and Title IX challenges to a county school board policy that prohibits transgender students from using the restroom which conform to their gender identity. ADL joined a brief filed by the National Women’s Law Center opposing this policy. The brief focuses on the claim under Title IX, a federal law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at publicly funded educational institutions. The brief asserts that the law’s protections encompass gender identity, and thus policies or rules governing schools may not turn on one’s sex as assigned at birth. Furthermore, the protective concerns raised by the school board in support of the policy are invalid because they are based on discriminatory stereotypes, which have been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in other contexts. They also are unfounded as there was no evidence that use of the restroom corresponding to gender identity in the county’s schools caused any injury or harm to students.