Federal Judge Rules Wisconsin Trans Student Can Use Bathroom

In recent months, transgender plaintiffs have beaten anti-trans policies in courts across the United States. Now, in Wisconsin, a federal judge says a trans girl student can use the girls bathroom.

In May the Mukwonago School District outside outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, met to speak about whether or not an 11-year-old transgender girl in the district would be allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to her gender identity. Afterwards, she was told by the principal that she would be forced to use the boys restroom or a gender neutral restroom moving forward. This directive, however, has now been blocked by a federal judge who found that the imposed policy likely infringes upon the transgender student's Title IX rights and equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution. This significant verdict marks yet another triumph in a summer that's shaping up to be extraordinarily successful for transgender rights advocates.

Judge Lynn Adelman, hearing the case before the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, ruled that policies that prevent transgender students from using the bathroom in accordance with their gender identity are harmful to transgender students. He noted in his ruling that bathroom policies that ban transgender people punish those people for gender non-conformity and are a form of sex discrimination. Lastly, it stated that the transgender girl using the bathroom would not harm the district or anyone in it.

See this section of the judge’s ruling here:

Page 3 of Judge Adelman’s ruling on trans bathroom case.

The specific circumstances of this case are heart wrenching. The plaintiff, known only as Jane Doe in court filings to protect her anonymity, has identified as a girl for her entire life, and has been using the girls bathroom the entire time she has been enrolled in the school - from the third grade to now. Recently, the school board gathered families specifically to speak about her and her right to access the bathroom during a school board meeting. Though some pushed for her to be banned from bathrooms, many advocates spoke up on her behalf:

"I’m here to say this is cruel. It’s cruel to pick on a little girl and tell her that she is different and that she can’t use the girls’ bathroom is wrong," Bosteder said.

— Waukesha County Freeman story on the board meeting leading up to the decision to ban her from the bathroom.

Following the school board meeting, she was approached by a teacher at the school along with the principal, who told her that she would no longer be able to use the bathroom of her gender identity. From emails released from the case, she messaged her parents in tears:

Text message from Jane Doe about bathroom policy.

Banning transgender people from bathrooms is cruel and harmful. According to the Trevor Project, 91% of transgender and nonbinary youth have said that they worry about being denied access to bathrooms due to state and local laws. One study in the Journal of Adolescent Health in 2020 reported that for transgender youth, one in three trans youth who have experienced bathroom discrimination reported a suicide attempt in the past year. Furthermore, 85% reported depressive mood and 60% reported suicidal ideation. Being banned from a bathroom is incredibly traumatic for transgender people.

This year, more bathroom laws targeting transgender people have been passed than any recent year in history. These laws range from bathroom bans in school facilities to full bans on bathroom usage for transgender adults. See the map from the Movement Advancement Project tracking these bathroom laws:

Movement Advancement Project. "Equality Maps: Bans on Transgender People's Use of Bathrooms & Facilities According to Their Gender Identity." https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/nondiscrimination/bathroom_bans. Accessed 07/11/2023.

The blocking of this policy marks the latest in what has become a string of legal victories for transgender people. In the last several months, transgender people have seen six gender affirming care bans at the state level blocked by federal judges, with a final ruling on the Arkansas gender affirming care ban which has been ruled to be unconstitutional. Several drag bans have come before courts as well, with Florida and Tennessee’s drag ban being blocked as unconstitutional. In Indiana, a court ruled that teachers do not have the right to use the wrong name and pronouns for their transgender students, and in West Virginia, a young transgender girl was allowed to continue playing sports by the US Supreme Court.

The policy will continue to be heard in the court unless the school district drops it for good, but this ruling means it is unlikely to survive final judgment. In the meantime, the transgender girl will be able to continue to access the restroom that matches her gender identity moving forward.