Sept. 10 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to permit South Carolina to ban transgender students from using the bathroom matching their gender identity as the state appeals rulings that found its law illegal.
In a one-page, unsigned decision, the Supreme Court denied South Carolina’s request for a stay of injunction pending appeal.
“The denial of the application is not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation,” the ruling said. “Rather, it is based on the standards applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this court.”
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have granted the application.
The ruling comes in a case filed against Proviso 1.120, a law passed by South Carolina last summer as part of its budget to require all state school districts to designate restrooms and changing facilities for use only by members of a single sex, banning transgender students from using the restroom that matches their gender identity.
On Nov. 13, Public Justice filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of a 13-year-old boy that argued the ban, enacted last year, violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as well as the Constitution.
In its argument, the boy’s lawyers pointed to a 2020 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruling that found bans on transgender students using restrooms that correspond to their gender identity is discrimination.
On Aug. 12, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibited the state from enforcing the ban, which prompted the state to file an emergency appeal late last month to be able to enforce its bathroom ban.
“Today’s decision from the Supreme Court reaffirms what we all know to be true: Contrary to South Carolina’s insistence, trans students are not emergencies. They are not threats,” Alexandra Brodsky, litigation director at Public Justice, said in a statement.
“We are so thrilled that our client will continue to be able to use boys’ restrooms while his appeal continues and hope today’s decision will provide hope to other trans students and their families during these difficult times.”
