North Carolina bathroom law could be decided in Virginia

[traci_k]

North Carolina bathroom law could be decided in Virginia

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31603116/north-carolina-bathroom-law-could-be-decided-in-virginia

AP via KCTV News
Posted: Mar 30, 2016 3:40 PM CST
Updated: Mar 31, 2016 3:31 AM CST
By LARRY O'DELL
Associated Press


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The fate of North Carolina's new law aimed at restricting restroom use by transgender people could be determined in Virginia, where a school board has ordered a teenager to stay out of the boys' room.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond could rule any day now in the case of Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male. Grimm says he has to take a "walk of shame" to use a restroom at Gloucester High School.
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This case in Virginia still needs to be settled and could provide some guidance in NC.

[suzifrommd]

I'm getting a bad feeling about all this. The reason the Grimm case is at the appellate level is because a lower court ruled against him, saying that he was female in the eyes of the court and the law.

It's not at all unlikely that this will end up with an enshrinement of our biological sex as a matter of federal law. That would be a disaster.

[Eva Marie]

I'm getting a bad feeling about all this. The reason the Grimm case is at the appellate level is because a lower court ruled against him, saying that he was female in the eyes of the court and the law.

It's not at all unlikely that this will end up with an enshrinement of our biological sex as a matter of federal law. That would be a disaster.

You might be right Suzi - I don't have a lot of faith in the courts to make the proper ruling.

My hope is that since this case is about a clear infringement of Title IX that the federal government will step in. Forcing him to use a single stall bathroom is discrimination - the courts have already ruled in similar cases that policies like these are discriminatory because he is required to do something that is different than everyone else.

These states and schools are playing fast and loose with Title IX and I hope that it results in punitive action from the feds. I really can't understand why that hasn't happened yet - if Virginia or NC gets hit with the loss of millions of dollars of federal funding I think that we will have seen the last of these kinds of laws.

We really, really need gender identity to be clearly and specifically spelled out as a protected class in federal law along with sexual identity. The federal government has left the issue murky and ill defined and that is only encouraging the states to continue to try to enact these laws and policies.

[lisarenee]

I'm getting a bad feeling about all this. The reason the Grimm case is at the appellate level is because a lower court ruled against him, saying that he was female in the eyes of the court and the law.

It's not at all unlikely that this will end up with an enshrinement of our biological sex as a matter of federal law. That would be a disaster.

While I agree that the Grimm case is probably not the best case, there are other issues with North Carolina's law. In particular, it uses the sex/gender on one's birth certificate. The standard to change ones birth certificate varies substantially from state to state.

1) Most will change it after surgery AND a legal name change (I was surprised when researching how many states make getting a name change an absolute legal requirement for a gender change)
2) a few will change it with a standard SSA/US Passport letter
3) Several will change it only with a court order. Some specify surgery is required for the order to be issued, but others don't specifically say what can be required.
4) New York City has the best rules and will change it with only a letter from a therapist stating you identify as [female|male].
5) At least 4 states won't change a birth certificate and Tennessee actually has a law specifically prohibiting changing the sex/gender on birth certificates for Trans* persons. Kansas law allows "minor" changes, but the courts have ruled that changing sex/gender for a trans* person even after surgery does not qualify as "minor". Also many foreign countries will not change birth certificates.

This creates an equal application problem for NC as the rules for changing a birth certificate are based on where one was born and thus a person born in New York City would be able to use the correct bathroom, while someone born in Tennessee would not be able to even if they had SRS. Had they gone with the sex/gender on your ID, they might have had a better leg to stand on, though it would still be unequally applied to persons visiting from other states.