AG James leads coalition defending rights of transgender students

Attorney General Letitia James is leading the charge against discrimination against transgender students in schools.

On Monday, James along with 23 other attorneys general filed an amicus brief in U.S. Court of Appeals in the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, in the case of Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County in support of a transgender student named Drew Adams who was not allowed to use the boys’ bathroom at his Florida school.

Adams is arguing that the school board’s policy preventing him from using the boy’s restroom violated his constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and his rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

“Transgender students deserve to feel safe and respected at all times, especially at school,” said Attorney General James in a 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 of non-cisgendered students across the nation. Drew Adams should have never been discriminated against and the continued efforts to discriminate against transgender students is exactly why our coalition will do everything in our power to ensure they are provided with equal protection under the law.”

Adams was stopped from using the boys’ restroom at Nease High School in Ponte Vede, Florida while he was a student despite being recognized as male on both his birth certificate and his driver’s license, having undergone surgery to conform his body to his gender identity, use men’s bathroom outside of school