Dive Brief:

• The United States Supreme Court has sent Gavin Grimm’s case over his right to use the school bathroom corresponding to his gender identity rather than biological gender back to a lower court in Virginia, virtually ensuring it will not hear the case this term.
• CNN Politics reports the Supreme Court has asked the lower court to review the case and make a decision about whether discrimination on the basis of gender identity is prohibited by Title IX, a larger issue the court sidestepped by ruling in favor of Grimm based on the Obama administration’s guidance on the topic.
• No matter what the lower court rules, the case will almost certainly be appealed back to the Supreme Court, meaning it will be some time before school districts across the country get clarity on their obligations to trans students.

Dive Insight:

Grimm’s case has become the focal point of a fight over transgender bathroom access that is playing out in several states and many districts around the country. However his case, in which he sued for the right to use the boys’ bathroom despite the fact that his birth certificate says his biological sex is female, is not unique.

The Obama administration’s Office for Civil Rights came to a resolution agreement with Palatine (IL) High School District 211 in December 2015 over a transgender high schooler’s access to the girls’ locker room. It was the first time the department had found a district in violation of civil rights laws over transgender issues. And in May of 2016, it released official guidance on the topic that was intensely debated before being rescinded by the Trump administration.