Transgender Restroom lawsuit

A report out Wednesday from Human Rights Watch finds that in the absence of statewide protections for transgender students, schools and districts in Pennsylvania, as well as four other states, are putting transgender students at risk. File photo: Signage outside a restroom at the Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

Schools across Pennsylvania are putting the safety and health of transgender students at risk by barring them from bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities matching their gender identity, according to a new report out Wednesday.

The 23-page report from the Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group, culled the findings of in-depth interviews with scores of transgender students, parents, teachers, administrators, and service providers in Alabama, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.

None of the five states examined by the report have laws similar to North Carolina's HB2, which exclude gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from state anti-discrimination legal protections.

However, the report - "Shut Out: Restrictions on Bathroom and Locker Room Access for Transgender Youth in US Schools," found that in the absence of statewide protections for transgender students, schools and districts in each of these states have in place similar restrictions that put transgender students at risk.

"Politics aside, schools should ensure that the rights of transgender youth are respected and protected on campus," said Ryan Thoreson, the author of the report. "Schools aren't doing that if transgender students spend their days worrying about something as basic as finding a safe and accessible bathroom."

Read the full report

Thoreson is the Robert L. Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program of the Human Rights Watch.

The debate over bathroom rights for transgender students was re-energized this summer when President Obama issued a directive instructing schools to provide transgender student bathroom access in accordance with their sexual identity or risk losing federal funding.

The directive was challenged in court across several states, including Pennsylvania, where about 100 Republican state representatives signed a letter to Obama, calling the federal directive "unconstitutional" and an "extreme outrage."

Texas a few weeks ago successfully blocked the measure. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that Obama's directive was unconstitutional. The decision applies to schools nationwide.

Thoreson argues that as a result transgender students have been left vulnerable to discriminatory school policies.

Transgender student on bathroom debate: 'It's just a place to pee'Among the students cited in the report (under pseudonyms) is Willow I., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas, who said her school required her to use the boys' locker room even after she had been assaulted by a group of football players.

"I had to strip down into my girly underwear in front of a bunch of guys who would call me these rude names," Willow said.

Across Pennsylvania, districts have increasingly this year seen the tone and tenor of the debate over transgender bathroom rights heat up. Two Philadelphia suburban school districts adopted comprehensive policies addressing the rights of transgender students.

The policies adopted by the Great Valley and Springfield Township school boards cover a swath of critical education opportunities, including privacy rights for transgender students, access to bathroom and locker rooms and athletic activities, as well as dress codes, and general harassment and discrimination.

While some school districts have seen vigorous pushback to such proposals, the Lower Merion School Board, in Montgomery County last spring unanimously voted to approve comprehensive policies with minimal pushback from the community or district.

In Pennsylvania, educational policies are primarily set at the local level -- with stakeholders that include school boards, taxpayers, students, teachers and parents weighing in on the debate.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include a correction on Lower Merion School District.