Court: Twin Cities District Discriminated Against Trans Student

TWIN CITIES, MN — The Minnesota Court of Appeals Monday ruled that a transgender student at Coon Rapids High School should have been allowed to use the boys’ locker room. At the center of the dispute was Anoka-Hennepin School District's decision to force "N.H." — a transgender student — into using a separate bathroom.

According to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights:

N.H. joined the boys’ swim team at Coon Rapids High School for the 2015-2016 school year and used the boys’ locker room without issue. However, during the summer of 2016, the district built an “enhanced privacy” boys’ locker room at the high school, which was entirely separate and segregated from the main boys’ locker room. In 2017, the district and school board required N.H. to use the “enhanced privacy” boys’ locker room, contrary to anti-discrimination provisions in the Minnesota Human Rights Act and N.H.’s wishes. In fact, the district even threatened to discipline N.H. if he did not use the segregated locker room.

" It is difficult to imagine how requiring only the transgender student to use a separate locker room would not stigmatize that student," Judge Peter M. Reyes wrote in his ruling.

"I never want any student to experience the discrimination and cruelty I experienced from the adults at my school," the plaintiff, N.H., said in a statement. "It means a lot to see that courts protect transgender students like me. Today's decision makes it very clear that segregating trans students doesn't just dehumanize us, it violates our legal rights."

The ruling will likely have wide-ranging implications for all districts in Minnesota. The decision found that under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, schools must allow transgender students to use locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

"The district is reviewing and analyzing the decision of the Court of Appeals, and will carefully consider its next steps," Anoka-Hennepin Schools said in a statement emailed to Patch. "The district’s top priority is maintaining a learning environment that is safe, secure, and free from discrimination, and its decision will be guided by those values."