AG Backs Trans Student in Florida Bathroom Case
Letitia James joins coalition of states supporting student barred from using bathroom
BY MATT TRACY
New York State Attorney
General Letitia James
and 22 other attorneys
general on November
28 fi led an amicus brief supporting
a transgender man who sued
a school he attended in St. John’s
County, Florida after he was barred
from using the boys’ bathroom.
Drew Adams sued the St. Johns
County school board in response to
the board’s policy preventing him
from being able to use the boys’ bathroom
at Nease High School, which
is about 25 miles south of Jacksonville.
Adams has insisted that the
policy violated the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment as
well as Title IX, the 1972 landmark
law that banned sex discrimination
in federally-funded academic and
athletic programs.
Drew’s case emerged after an
Trans student Drew Adams is receiving support from attorneys generals in nearly two dozen states in
the 11th Circuit case.
anonymous complaint was fi led
against him when two girls saw him
entering the boys’ bathroom — despite
the fact that Drew had been
using the boys’ bathroom for weeks
without any complaints from boys.
At the time of the complaints, Drew
also had government-issued identifi -
cation affi rming his gender identity.
The attorneys general fi led the
LAMBDA LEGAL
brief during en banc proceedings
before the US Court of Appeals
for the 11th Circuit. In 2020, the
11th Circuit upheld District Judge
Timothy Corrigan’s ruling that the
board violated Equal Protection
Clause and Title IX, but a subsequent
ruling by a three-judge panel
of the 11th Circuit in July of this
year was limited to the Equal Protection
LEGAL
Clause. Now the full 11th
Circuit is preparing to hear the
case in February at the request of
the school board, according to the
Tampa Bay Times.
“Transgender students deserve
to feel safe and respected at all
times, especially at school,” James
said in a written statement. “Denying
transgender students access to
the correct bathroom cultivates a
culture of intolerance and is blatant
discrimination. This lawsuit is
about more than just equal bathroom
access — it is about eliminating
unfair treatment...”
Other attorneys general are joining
the amicus brief from California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico,
North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, and Washington, DC.
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