Ash Whitaker might be just a teen, but he’s no pushover when it comes to standing up for his legal rights. Slate reports that this kid is tough.
Ash attends high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He’s a good kid. He gets good grades in school. He plays in the orchestra. He has a close social group. He is also in the process of transitioning from female to male.
This retired public school teacher is sad to report that Ash’s school responded to his situation with horrible discrimination. They insisted that Ash use the girl’s bathroom because he was born as a female. This ignored the fact that Ash had been using the boy’s bathroom without any problem for months before coming out to his administrators.
Teaching staff continued to address Ash with female pronouns and with his birth name. He was told that if he wanted to attend an overnight trip with the school orchestra, he would have to sleep in the girls’ dorm.
His principal prevented him from running for Junior Prom King, telling him (unbelievably) that he’d have to run for Queen. They only relented after a huge protest from other students, all of whom related to Ash as a boy.
The worst offense was that school guidance staff were instructed to provide bright green wristbands to Ash and any other transgender students. Why? So that staff could monitor which bathroom they used. Can you imagine?
Ash was threatened with disciplinary action if he used the boys’ bathroom. As a high school senior in the process of applying to college, the prospect of that kind of negative mark on his record was upsetting.
With all of the shame and stress brought on by the discrimination, Ash suffered physically and mentally. He was increasingly depressed and anxious.
So Ash decided that he had to file a lawsuit against the school for violating his rights under Title IX. That federal education law protects the rights of all genders and bars any type of discrimination based on gender. That means that denying trans students access to the bathroom of their identified gender is a violation.
The suit also alleged that the school district had violated Ash’s 14 Amendment rights. They had denied him equal access under the law.
The case came up in federal court this week. The first ruling in the case was a major victory for Ash and other transgender kids.
U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper issued a preliminary injunction saying that the district had to allow Ash to use the boys’ bathroom. Ash and his family were elated.
This case has a long way to go, but Judge Pepper made it clear after issuing the injunction that Ash has a very strong case. She thinks he is likely to win.
A lot of trans people in this country will win if Ash does. What a tough as nails kid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJFeQw-XMDU
Featured image via YouTube Screengrab.
