A trans high school student has won a discrimination lawsuit in Wisconsin, with the school district settling to pay $800,000 USD to the young man.
Ash Whitaker may have graduated in 2017, but in 2016 he sued the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) for forbidding him to use the men's bathroom, monitoring him daily, and threatening him with disciplinary action for using the bathroom of his choosing.
Whitaker also alleged that the school proposed transgender students wear bright green labels to make monitoring their bathroom use easier, as well as calling him by his birth name and refusing to use male pronouns.
According to the , the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that KUSD had singled Whitaker out illegally because he's transgender. As part of the settlement, the school district is also unable to discriminate against Whitaker if he were to return to the campus in the future.
The school board voted 5-2 on the $800,000 USD settlement, with approximately $650,000 USD going toward Whitaker's legal fees and the remaining $150,000 USD going to Whitaker, .
In a statement released via the Transgender Law Center Whitaker said, "I am deeply relieved that this long, traumatic part of my life is finally over and I can focus on my future and simply being a college student".
"Winning this case was so empowering and made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youth live authentically. My message to other trans kids is to respect themselves and accept themselves and love themselves. If someone’s telling you that you don’t deserve that, prove them wrong."
This lasting impacts of this case will be massive, as it's the first time a federal court of appeals has ruled that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX - a federal law that states no US citizen should be discriminated against in any form under education programs - as well as under the Constitution.
Transgender Law Center's Kris Hayashi said, "The precedent in the Seventh Circuit is definitive: schools cannot single students out because they are trans. Period."
"This settlement sends the clear message to all school districts that discriminating against transgender students is against the law and harms students who simply want to go to school," said Joseph Wardenski of Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC who represented Whitaker.
"We are pleased that KUSD decided not to needlessly drag this case through the courts any further," Wardenski continued, "to compensate Ash for the concrete and avoidable harms he suffered, and to finally allow Ash to move on from this painful chapter of his life".
