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U.S. District Judge David Nye said his temporary restraining
order Thursday did not weigh on the merits of the case, but said
preserving the status quo at least until he could consider it
more fully at a Sept. 13 hearing was "the most fitting approach
at the current juncture."
"The court's ruling will be a relief for transgender students in
Idaho, who are entitled to basic dignity, safety, and respect at
school," Peter Renn of Lambda Legal, a lawyer for the
plaintiffs, said in a statement.
The office of Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said in a
statement it looked forward to making its case at the upcoming
hearing.
The student's family, under the pseudonym Rebecca Roe, and a
student association sued the state last month. They said the
state law, signed by Republican Governor Brad Little in March,
illegally discriminates on the basis of gender identity and
violates students' right to privacy.
Republican-led states have passed numerous bills targeting
transgender youth in the last two years, including what are
called "bathroom bills" like Idaho's, and bans on
gender-affirming medical treatments for minors.
Idaho's bathroom bill allows students to sue schools for $5,000
if they encounter a transgender student in a bathroom the law
forbids. That effectively puts a "bounty" on transgender
students and encourages others to search them out, the lawsuit
said.
The new law says schools must provide a "reasonable
accommodation" for transgender students unwilling or unable to
use their assigned bathroom. The lawsuit alleges such alternate
accommodations are "often inferior to the facilities used by
others, located in less accessible locations, and stigmatizing
for them to use."
Federal courts have been divided on school policies requiring
transgender students to use the restroom corresponding to their
birth sex, with the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals finding a Virginia school's policy illegal, and
the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit upholding one in a Florida
school.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Jonathan
Oatis and Chris Reese)
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