Three Oklahoma students are suing the state over its law that bars transgender students from using the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity, KOSU reported.
The 42-page suit challenges that Senate Bill 615 is unconstitutional. A team of attorneys from the ACLU of Oklahoma, the national ACLU, Lambda Legal and pro bono co-counsel Covington & Burling LLP argue the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX because it)s discriminatory toward trans students based on their identities. The students are suing the state anonymously.
ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Jon Davidson said in a statement that Windy City Times received, “There is no valid reason to prohibit transgender students from using the same facilities as their peers. Doing so is stigmatizing and damaging. It interferes with their ability to learn at school and can lead to physical harms as well. No problems have arisen in schools that allow transgender students to use restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender. It is time for politicians to stop using young people who are transgender as a wedge issue for political gain.]
The lawsuit, Bridge v. Oklahoma State Department of Education, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on behalf of three students, two of whom are high school students in Oklahoma City-area school districts and one student who is attending a public charter school in Oklahoma City.
The complaint is at http://www.aclu.org/bridge-v-oklahoma-state-department-education-complaint.