No. 20- _______ In the Supreme Court of the United States __________ GLOUCESTER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, PETITIONER, v. GAVIN GRIMM __________ On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit __________ PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI __________ DAVID P. CORRIGAN GENE C. SCHAERR JEREMY D. CAPPS Counsel of Record M. SCOTT FISHER JR. ERIK S. JAFFE HARMAN, CLAYTOR, HANNAH SMITH CORRIGAN & WELLMAN JOSHUA J. PRINCE Post Office Box 70280 SCHAERR | JAFFE LLP Richmond, VA 23225 1717 K Street NW, Suite 900 (804) 747-5200 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 787-1060
[email protected] Counsel for Petitioner QUESTION PRESENTED Although Title IX prohibits schools from discriminating “on the basis of sex,” 20 U.S.C. §1681(a), it expressly permits them to provide separate living facilities, including restrooms, for the different sexes. 20 U.S.C. §1686; 34 C.F.R. §106.33. This protracted case began when Gavin Grimm, a biological female who self-identifies as male, challenged the local school board’s decision to require him to use either a unisex restroom or a restroom assigned to members of his biological sex, i.e., girls. Four years ago, this Court granted certiorari in this case after the Fourth Circuit deferred to an unpublished letter from the Department of Education, asserting that Title IX requires schools to treat students consistent with their gender identities rather than their biological sex. After a new Administration withdrew that letter, the Court vacated and remanded. The district court and the Fourth Circuit then held that both Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause forbid schools from denying transgender students access to the restrooms assigned to the opposite biological sex.