The Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday temporarily halting the rulings of lower courts that allowed a transgender student in Virginia to use the bathroom matching his identity. By a 5-3 vote, with Justice Stephen Breyer joining the court’s conservatives, the Supreme Court put the decision on hold while it decides whether it takes up the case.
The case was brought by Gavin Grimm, who sued Gloucester County School Board over its policy requiring students use the bathrooms of their “biological sex.”
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the Obama administration’s arguments that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 could be interpreted to be protective of trans students, according to Buzzfeed, and from there a trial court ordered that the school not implement the policy.
The Supreme Court’s order Wednesday means that Grimm will be prohibited from using the male bathroom at his school when classes resume.
Breyer said in a concurrence to the order that he had voted to halt the ruling “as a courtesy,” while noting that “we are currently in recess, and that granting a stay will preserve the status quo (as of the time the Court of Appeals made its decision).”
If the Supreme Court decides not to take up the full case, the stay on the lower court’s decision will terminate, the order said. If the court grants a full hearing to case, the ruling will remained blocked until the Supreme Court issues its final judgment.
Read the order below:
Wait, what? A “courtesy” to who?
Just one more reason to get out the DEM vote this fall in bigly yuge numbers.
Difficult for me to parse this.
You will not be shocked to learn that Alito, Thomas, Roberts and Kennedy were joined by “…Justice Stephen Breyer [who] indicated that he had voted to grant the board’s application “as a courtesy” – a practice most commonly seen in last-minute death penalty proceedings.” I can’t get too het up about who uses which bathroom (as we have known since the days of the ERA, every house in this country has a unisex bathroom). This is going to be resolved by the 29th, so no need to freak out…yet. Yet another solution in search of a problem, much like “voter fraud.” Since this deals with icky sex issues, it’s no wonder that many are upset. scotusblog has more details.
scotusblog
This is only an annoying speed bump – not a final decision. In the fight for equality over the years, we in the LGBTQ community have endured much worse. While this decision is a set-back for Gavin Grimm, personally, it’s procedural – nothing more (right now).
This is just another reminder how vitally important it is we on the left/progressive side of the aisle GOTV. The Supreme Court sets the stage for a decade or two on any number of important issues. Personally, I find it in my best interest(s) to vote in the lesser of two evils (if you happen to see this race in that way; I don’t) elections than get sideswiped by a ruling not in my favor – then have to wait a couple decades for another chance at them getting it right. If you aren’t a member of the LGBTQ community, perhaps you have family members and/or friends, coworkers who are. Aren’t they worth it? This isn’t speaking to the other cases addressing pressing issues working their way up the system: Voting Rights, Women’s Choice, to name just a couple.
SCOTUS is worth your vote, folks.