RICHMOND, Va., June 23 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Thursday issued an injunction that will allow a transgender teenage student in Virginia to use the bathroom of whichever gender he identifies with.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar is a victory for Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as a male.
Doumar actually denied Grimm's efforts last year to use the boys' restroom at his school, but sided with the 17-year-old this time because it's now in-line with a directive from President Barack Obama's administration last month.
"After nearly two years of humiliation and intense struggle, equality has finally prevailed," Grimm said after Thursday's ruling. "Now, hopefully other transgender people will not have to face this type of discrimination."
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The injunction orders the school board over Grimm's district to allow him into the boys' room.
"When he goes back to school this fall for his senior year, he'll be able to use the bathroom just like any other boy," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Joshua Block, who represents Grimm, said Thursday.
Grimm's lawsuit claimed the Virginia school board's policy, which mandates that students use the restroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, violated the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, which bars sex-based discrimination in U.S. schools.
Thursday's ruling is the latest action in the national bathroom controversy. The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of North Carolina last month over a state law preventing transgender students from using restrooms of the sex they identify with.
"I am elated to hear that I'll be able to attend my senior year of high school with my full rights restored," Grimm added.
