Judge blocks Mukwonago School District from restricting trans students' access to restrooms

 

MUKWONAGO, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A federal judge says a transgender student can use the bathroom of the gender she was not assigned to at birth. 

A temporary restraining order now prevents the Mukwonago Area School District from enforcing its new policy on restroom and locker room privacy.

"It's been terrible. You have an 11-year-old child who's just trying to go to the bathroom," said the child's mom.

After fielding recent complaints, the Mukwonago School Board changed its policy on restrooms and locker rooms.

The new policy prevents this mom's 11-year-old transgender daughter from using the girls' bathrooms she was told she could use since 3rd grade.

"I think one of the big parts is -- that I'm hearing a lot, is people are saying it's that she 'wants to use.' It's not necessarily a want, it's a right," said the child's mom.

We're concealing mom's identity to maintain her child's anonymity.

"I started getting calls from the school -- she's using this bathroom; she's not allowed to use this bathroom. You know, it's one thing when the kids are picking on her and harassing her and you have to talk to a child about how to deal with a bully. That's one thing, but it's completely different when you're trying to tell a child how to deal with an adult bully," said the child's mom.

The family filed suit, and a federal judge just granted a temporary restraining order which allows the trans student to continue to use the girls' bathroom during summer school while the case makes its way through the courts.

"When I told my daughter about it, she was jumping up and down in the car. Like, she was so excited because she goes, 'now I don't have to be nervous anymore,'" said the child's mom.

"We hoped we might be able to resolve it amicably with the school district and reached out to them to try to do that, but unfortunately it became clear that that wasn't going to happen. They were still going to prevent her from using the girls' restroom at summer school," said Alexa Milton, attorney at Relman Colfax Law.

The suit alleges the district is violating Title 9, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

"I'm not going away. I'm not gonna run. I'm not gonna hide. I'm gonna protect my child," said the child's mom.

The superintendent declined our request for an interview because of the pending litigation, but parents received a letter after the temporary restraining order was issued, saying the district isn't giving up, calling for the safety of all students.