Virginia school board won't accept defeat: Gavin Grimm's case continues

Some legal cases seem to go on indefinitely. Take, for example, former Gloucester County high-school student Gavin Grimm's litigation against the Gloucester County School Board alleging gender-identity-based discrimination. Despite multiple rounds at all levels of the federal judicial system over a six-year period, the board is still standing its ground, hoping to take the case before the U.S. Supreme Court for a second time.

Back to Supreme Court?

For those following the claims asserted by Grimm, a transgender male, against the school board, it has been an endless loop through the federal judicial hierarchy. Most recently, the board filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review rulings by the federal district court in Norfolk and the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Virginia employers). The court decisions:

• Struck down the school board's policy requiring students to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex; and
• Concluded the policy was unconstitutional and violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

For the second time, the board is petitioning the Supreme Court to review adverse rulings.

How we got here

Grimm's lawsuit, filed in 2015 when he was still a high-school student, alleged the board's restroom policy violated the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, which prohibits discrimination in publicly funded education. After several rounds in the Norfolk federal court and a 2016 appeal to the 4th Circuit, the case was primed to be heard by the Supreme Court.