In a decision being hailed as monumental in the struggle for transgender rights, the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled Monday that a 6-year-old transgender girl, Coy Mathis, must be permitted to use the girls bathroom in her school.
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This is a watershed moment for transgender civil rights, Michael Silverman, Mathiss lawyer and the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, told Yahoo! Shine. Weve said from the start that Coy deserves the same respect, dignity, and opportunity that every other student deserves.
The decision stems from a formal discrimination complaint filed in February by Mathiss parents, Kathryn and Jeremy, against the Eagleside Elementary School's Fountain-Fort Carson School District. Although Mathis, who was born a boy, had been deemed transgender by a psychologist at age 4, the school had barred her from using the girls restroom, instead offering her use of the nurses or teachers bathrooms. But setting her apart in that way, her family contended, was sure to set her up for frequent harassment and bullying, and they began homeschooling her.
The school district, meanwhile, believed it had acted reasonably and fairly, said its lawyer, William Kelly Dude, in a statement at the time. That position was reiterated Monday in a new statement from the school district that Dude provided to Shine.
"We are disappointed with this opinion because it not only failed to address conflicts between statutory and regulatory provisions raised by the district but failed to appreciate the unique circumstances that school districts must consider when faced with such situations," read the statement, in part. It added, "The district is conferring with legal representation to determine next steps in this process." Appealing the decision is an option for the school district.
In its 16-page decision on the matter, Civil Rights Division director Steven Chavez wrote that the school, in its separating out of Mathis, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the complexity of transgender issues and creates a barrier where none should exist. Further, it stated, Telling [Mathis] that she must disregard her identity while performing one of the most essential human functions constitutes severe and pervasive treatment, and creates an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating or offensive.
It was the first ruling in the nation holding that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms that match who they are, and also the most strongly worded, positive decision in regards to the issue, Silverman noted.
