A male student who identifies himself as a female has now been allowed access to the girls' locker room in a public high school in Chicago.
According to Christian News, the student began identifying himself as a female almost two years ago. The Township High School District 211 previously denied his request to be allowed access to the girls' locker room, citing the need to preserve the privacy of female students. District officials offered a private location for him to change instead.
However, the student rejected their offer and contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed a federal complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.
"They are telling a student that she can't be with her friends at school but has to be relegated to a separate place to dress. That's just a horrible thing to do," said ACLU Illinois director for the LGBT program John Knight.
For its part, the Department of Education said the school district should allow the student to use the locker room of his choice.
Despite the opposition it faced, the district stood firm on its decision to prohibit the transgender student access to the girls' locker room, and kept offering him other options, but he still refused. The officials explained that they simply wanted "to protect the privacy rights of all students when changing clothes or showering before or after physical education and after-school activities, while also providing accommodations necessary to meet the unique needs of individual students."
The Department of Education then suggested that the district install privacy curtains in the changing areas for the transgender student, and the district complied.
The department gave district officials 30 days to settle the matter under threat of penalty, including the possibility of losing $6 million in federal funding.
Finally on Thursday, district officials caved in. Despite the pleas made by the parents of female students, district officials voted 5-2 to allow the male student to change in the curtained area of the girl's locker room.
"Consistent with our stated position throughout this matter, if the transgender student seeks access to the locker room, the student will not be granted unrestricted access and will utilise a private changing station whenever changing clothes or showering," Superintendent Daniel Cates said in a statement.
