CHICAGO (CBS) — A transgender Wisconsin teen’s fight for bathroom access at his school in Kenosha has moved to a federal appeals court.
Ash Whitaker, 17, filed a federal lawsuit against Kenosha Unified School District in July, after his school would not allow him to use the boys’ restrooms.
According to the lawsuit, Ash was designated a girl on his birth certificate, but began identifying as a boy in middle school. Ash has had hormone treatments, and notes from his doctors identify him as a boy, but he has not yet had gender reassignment surgery.
The district has said their bathroom policy requires students to use restrooms matching the gender on their birth certificate. Ash can use the boys’ bathroom if he gets his birth certificate changed, but in Wisconsin he would first need to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
A federal judge ruled in Ash’s favor in September, but the district has appealed.
Attorneys for both sides presented oral arguments Wednesday morning at a hearing before the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago.
“There’s still a lot of hate in the world, a lot of misunderstanding, definitely; but there’s still a lot of hope, and that’s what we kind of want to come away with. We feel very positive about how it went, how things have been going,” said Ash’s mother,
A panel of three 7th Circuit judges will review his case. It was unclear when they would rule.
from CBS Chicago http://ift.tt/2nMaKFP
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