Virginia School Board Takes Transgender Bathroom Fight to Supreme Court

After losing in federal appeals court, a Virginia school has filed to have a case against a transgender student heard before the country's highest court.

The Gloucester County School Board has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in a case against transgender teenager Gavin Grimm. Born biologically female, Grimm identifies as male, and he and his family sued the school to allow him to use the bathroom matching his gender identity.

The Fourth District Court refused, in a 2-1 decision, to hear the case after Grimm won in a lower court.

That decision has prompted the Virginia school system to take its case all the way to Washington.

If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case (though chances are slim), any potential ruling could have profound effects on anti-trans "bathroom bills" throughout the country. North Carolina's infamous HB2 has led to boycotts from both politicians and performers, and even a federal civil rights lawsuit by the Department of Justice.