A trans student is suing his school district over bathroom discrimination

The battle for trans bathroom rights continues as a trans teen filed a lawsuit against a Wisconsin school district for not allowing him to use the boys’ bathroom and referring to him with the name he was given at birth, which he doesn’t identify with.

According to reports, the lawsuit claims that 16 year old Ashton Whitaker, who is male, has been denied access to the boys bathroom and has had his bathroom monitored by school staff. It’s also claimed that he and other trans students have been made to wear green wristbands so they can be recognised by staff.

The lawsuit also claims that, as a result, Whitaker reduced his liquid intake, exacerbating a medical condition that causes him to faint, and suffered stress migraines. The 16 year old was also allegedly forced to stay with female students on a trip to Europe.

According to Fox 6 Milwaukee, Whitaker’s attorney said “Transgender youth are struggling with the issue of their identity, but if they’re not received well by people around them, then they can have additional psychological problems and so this has been very stressful for him”.

“The degree to which the administration has just continued to harass him over and over and raising the stakes when you’d think it’d be the opposite. You’d think they’d be looking for a way to make his life at that high school more pleasant.”

The case will argue that forcing the student to use the restrooms that correspond to his assigned-at-birth gender violates federal anti-discrimination laws and the U.S. Constitution.

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