NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A transgender child and her parents are suing the Tennessee Department of Education over a law that prohibits transgender students and staff from using school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities.
The suit was filed Thursday in federal court in Nashville by a student identified only as D.H. It claims Tennessee's law violates D.H.'s Constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause and also violates Title IX, the 1972 federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
Whether Title IX protects transgender students is a subject of fierce debate.
The U.S. Department of Education issued guidance in June that it did apply, but a federal judge temporarily blocked that interpretation last month.
