School Forced Boy to Wear Bracelet Identifying Him as Trans, Lawsuit Alleges

The student, who lived as a girl until middle school, is listed in the complaint as A.W. and represented by the California-based Transgender Law Center. In the spring of 2015, A.W., with the support of his mother and guidance counselor, requested to be able to use the boys' bathrooms at George Nelson Tremper High School. Administrators denied the request, instead stating he had to use the girls' restrooms or a single-user, gender-neutral restroom in the school office. This response left the high school sophomore "overwhelmed, helpless, hopeless, and alone," according to the suit.

"Both of the restroom options offered by defendants were discriminatory, burdensome, or unworkable," the suit contends. "A.W. was deeply distressed by the prospect of using the girls' restrooms, as it would hinder and be at odds with his public social transition at school, undermine his male identity, and convey to others that he should be viewed and treated as a girl."

He also feared using the single-user bathroom, which only staff and visitors used, would draw stigmatization. Instead, he tried to avoid using restrooms altogether, which exacerbated his pre-existing medical conditions and stress.

Last fall, after the US Department of Justice concluded in another case that transgender students are protected under Title IX and can use the restroom in accordance with their gender identity, A.W. said he "understood it be his legal right" and returned to using the boys' restrooms in his junior year.

Title IX states that people people participating in education programs that receive federal funding are protected from being discriminated against on the basis of sex. The school administrators, however, disagreed.

When the plaintiff continued to use the boys' restroom, the assistant principal threatened him with disciplinary action. "Specifically," the suit states, "she indicated A.W. would have to 'go down to 109 or 203' — referring to Room 109, the in-school suspension room, and Room 203, the school's disciplinary office."

In one of several meetings with school officials, A.W. asked the district's chief of special education and student support why he couldn't use the boys' restrooms. According to the plaintiff, the administrator replied with a statement to the effect of, "Well, we've never had a student who identifies as male but was born female." She also refused to acknowledge his protections under Title IX.

In addition to being regularly hassled by the administration, A.W. learned that security guards were asked to watch restrooms and report if anyone appeared to be going into the "wrong" one. In May, A.W. became aware of the school's intention to make transgender students wear bright green bracelets to help monitor their restroom usage. The proposal left him feeling "sickened and afraid."

"Branding transgender students in this way would single them out for additional scrutiny, stigma, and potentially harassment or violence, and violate their privacy by revealing their transgender status to others," the suit contends.

In a statement given to the Transgender Law Center, A.W. said that, despite the outpouring of support from his peers and teachers, the school has made his life "miserable."

"I worry about how I'm going to navigate the demands of senior year if I can't even go to the bathroom without worrying that I'm being watched," he said.

The lawsuit contends that the school district has failed to change its discriminatory policies after repeatedly being told of its legal obligations under Title IX.

Even after the US Department of Education and US Department of Justice issued a joint letter earlier this year stating that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identities, the school district maintains the position that it isn't bound by those federal guidelines.

Wisconsin is one of 11 states that filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration in May challenging the directive.