Thursday, August 26, 2021

VA school board agrees to pay trans former student Gavin Grimm $1.3 million in legal fees after battle over bathroom policy

Gavin Grimm

Gavin Grimm, the transgender young man who won his battle against a Virginia school board over its bathroom policy, just received another bit of good news.

From Buzzfeed:

A Virginia school board has agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to Gavin Grimm, a transgender former student who sued the district over its bathroom policy, sending the case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Gloucester County School Board said on Thursday that it would pay the entire amount in legal fees that Grimm and his lawyers had petitioned for after a years long battle that brought national attention to the rights of students to use the facility that corresponds with their gender identity. 

 The former student and his legal team argued in their petition that the case's "arduous journey" involved constant confrontation with the school board, which argued its policy protected students' privacy and wasn't sex-based discrimination because it was applied equally to all students. But Grimm's case went on to be the first time a federal court held that Title IX protects transgender students' right to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity, an unprecedented decision that affected similar cases nationally. Thursday's agreement means that no further proceedings remain in the case, concluding over a decade of legal battles between the former student and the school board.

For more on this lengthy case, including how Grimm eventually won, check out the article. It provides a good extensive background and past articles chronicling the entire situation.