In a victory for the LGBTQ+ community, the Supreme Court chose to uphold a decision that allowed a transgender student to use the bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity Monday, CNN reported. Prior to the announcement that the Court would not hear an appeal from a Virginia School board, advocates worried that the Court would take up the case and reverse a lower court opinion.

For years, there has been an ongoing battle over bathroom access. The case follows a transgender student who first sued his school district in Virginia in 2015 for access to the boys’ bathroom. Gavin Grimm, who was a high school student at the time, challenged the school board’s decision to require him to use either a unisex bathroom or one that correlated to the sex assigned to him at birth. The new announcement comes as a relief to advocates and leaves a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Grimm, the student who first filed the case.

“I am glad that my years-long fight to have my school see me for who I am is over. Being forced to use the nurse’s room, a private bathroom, and the girl’s room was humiliating for me, and having to go to out-of-the-way bathrooms severely interfered with my education,” Grimm said in a statement Monday. 

“Trans youth deserve to use the bathroom in peace without being humiliated and stigmatized by their own school boards and elected officials,” he added.

While Grimm’s legal fight is now over it was not easy. Despite the fact that the case touched upon issues relevant to Title IX, which prohibits schools from discriminating “on the basis of sex” and the Equal Protection Clause, it was difficult to fight.

Under the Obama administration a “statement of interest” was filed noting that a “school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity,” thus accusing the board of violating Title IX, NBC News reported. This resulted in a federal appeals court ruling in Grimm’s favor after interpreting the notice as a reasonable interpretation of Title IX.

However, the school appealed, and before the Supreme Court could take on the case a new administration was appointed. The Trump administration then withdrew the Obama era guidance resulting in the case being pushed further into proceedings.

Despite the attempts to disempower Grimm, the 4th Circuit again ruled in favor of Grimm, this time citing the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2020 that held that federal employment law protects LGBTQ workers, CNN reported.

After Grimm’s victory in the lower court, Gloucester County in Virginia appealed to the Supreme Court, with the school board asking the justices to reverse the 2-1 decision to allow Grimm to use the bathroom associated with his gender identity as ruled by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.  

The Court’s denial to grant the appeal means that fewer than four justices agreed to take up the case. According to CNN, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito said they would have taken up the case for the next term.

According to USA Today, since the Supreme Court did not rule on the underlying legal questions, experts believe more cases involving transgender rights will arrive at the high court as conservative states continue to pass laws violating the rights of trans youth. 

“The larger question, which wasn’t at issue in this case, is how the Justices are going to address circumstances where accommodations based upon sexual orientation or gender identity run headlong into compelling countervailing interests, such as the protection of religious liberty,” Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said Monday. “Just as in the Bostock employment discrimination ruling from last Term, leaving the decision below in this case intact kicks that question down the road.”

While this decision comes as a victory, unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident and trans youth across the country face discrimination in schools. GOP officials nationwide are working to hurt trans youth by limiting their opportunity in not only sports but access to basic needs like the bathroom.

“Everyone has the right to high-quality, public education without the fear of being discriminated against simply for being brave enough to show up as you truly are,” Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign said Monday.

While the case does not set a national precedent, advocates hope that the Supreme Court’s decision will influence how other lower courts view similar cases. The battle for equal rights for trans youth is ongoing; we must stand to protect trans youth and ensure discrimination does not continue.

We must act now to urge our senators to vote “yes” to the Equality Act.

Sign and send the petition: The Senate must pass the Equality Act and stop the discrimination against LGBTQ people.