The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a request from South Carolina officials to prevent a transgender boy from accessing the boys’ restrooms at his school.
The court refused an urgent appeal made by the state, which has recently passed laws that compel schools to block transgender students from using restrooms matching their gender identity.
The brief order stressed that the decision “is not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation.”
Three conservative members of the court — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — said they would have granted the request.
The Supreme Court needed to decide solely whether one ninth-grade student, referred to in legal documents as John Doe, could have access to the boys’ restrooms at his school while the legal case proceeds.
South Carolina lawmakers have attempted to limit restroom access for transgender students by incorporating clauses in budget bills that withdraw funding from non-compliant schools.
On behalf of Doe, his parents initiated a lawsuit, arguing that the measures breach the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which mandates equal application of the law for everyone, and also violate Title IX, the federal legislation prohibiting discrimination in education.
A federal judge in South Carolina has yet to address the core legal questions and has rejected Doe’s request to use his chosen restroom during the ongoing case.
In August, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a similar request, prompting the state to turn to the Supreme Court.
In the Supreme Court’s new term, which begins next month, the justices will consider a major case on state laws that ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s school and college sports.
