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The Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, joined 17 of his peers today in filing an amicus brief in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging Oklahoma's legislation that bars transgender students from accessing school facilities that correspond to their gender identity, which the attorney general called discriminatory and unlawful.
The case arises from a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma Senate Bill 615 (SB 615), which categorically prohibits transgender students from using single-sex school facilities consistent with their gender identity.
After the Western District of Oklahoma granted the state defendants' motion to dismiss the case, the plaintiffs (three transgender students) appealed the decision to the Tenth Circuit.
The coalition claims in its amicus brief that SB 615 violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, while outlining the serious harms to transgender youth that result from unlawful discrimination on the basis of an individual's gender identity.
“Legislation that prohibits transgender students from accessing school facilities that correspond to their gender identity is discriminatory, unlawful, and deeply egregious,” said Attorney General Bonta.
“We urge the Tenth Circuit to reverse the district court’s ruling to ensure that the rights and well-being of our most vulnerable student populations are upheld. As some states seek to undermine vital protections like Title IX, California remains committed to upholding stronger safeguards amid a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric,” she added.
SB 615 is part of a dangerous wave of discriminatory legislation across the United States targeting transgender children.
More than 1.6 million people in the United States, including approximately 300,000 youth ages 13 to 17, identify as transgender.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that transgender youth suffer levels of discrimination, violence and harassment that far exceed those experienced by their cisgender counterparts.
Such discrimination, she stressed, predictably inflicts physical and mental harm, so legislation preventing transgender students from using sex-segregated facilities, including bathrooms, in accordance with their gender identity is unnecessary and illegal.
In that regard, Bonta pointed out that, unlike Oklahoma's discriminatory law, all California schools must allow students to use sex-segregated facilities in accordance with the student's gender identity.
In its amici brief today, the coalition supported the plaintiffs’ effort to block enforcement of SB 615, arguing that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by stigmatizing transgender students and denying them access to regular school facilities based on their gender identity.
Additionally, she says, it violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by denying transgender children access to the same communal facilities that other children can use, and fails to recognize how inclusive laws and policies produce important benefits without compromising the privacy and safety of others.
The other attorneys general who joined the amicus brief were those of New York, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.
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