Justices Let Transgender Student Use Boys Bathroom Amid Appeal

The Supreme Court will for now allow a transgender student to use the boys restroom at his public school as his challenge to a South Carolina bathroom requirement moves forward.

A majority of the justices on Wednesday declined to pause a lower court ruling that temporarily bars the state from enforcing its ban on transgender students using bathrooms that match their gender identities against a plaintiff suing over the law.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application from the state for a stay, according to a brief order that noted “the denial of the application is not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation.”

“Rather, it is based on the standards applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court,” the order said.

The decision, which came on the court’s emergency docket, comes as the justices start to more frequently weigh in on policies affecting the transgender population. In July, the justices agreed to decide whether states can ban transgender girls and women from competing for their schools on female athletic teams.

The underlying dispute in South Carolina stems from state legislation providing that students at public schools use multi-stall restrooms that match their biological sex at the time of their birth.

A minor identified as John Doe, who attends school in Berkeley County, sued through his parents, alleging the so-called proviso violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.

The suit said that Doe, whose gender identity is male, was an eighth-grade student when it went into effect in 2024. But Doe was classified as female under the policy and reprimanded by teachers and later suspended for one day because of his use of the boys restroom, according to an order issued Aug. 15 by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

His case will continue to proceed at the Fourth Circuit.

South Carolina officials argued their actions are rooted in a long history of dividing sexes at public restrooms.