Alexis Lightcap in USA Today on single sex spaces suit that could reach Supreme Court

[GrinitchSpinach]

Lightcap is a 2018 graduate of Boyertown Area High School in Pennsylvania. She and two other students are being represented by the Alliance to Defend Freedom in ongoing litigation against the school, which implemented a self-ID policy for toilets and changing areas without informing students who do not identify as transgender (or indeed parents).

The US Third Circuit ruled against the students in May. On November 19, the ADF petitioned the US Supreme Court to review the case. Apparently it usually takes the Supreme Court about six weeks to decide whether to hear an appeal.

The Alliance to Defend Freedom is a right wing Christian legal group designated a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-homosexual agenda. It is beyond frustrating that these, like the similar group involved in the Florida PE teacher case, are the only attorneys willing to take up the cause of sex-based protections right now. The silence of, for example, Gloria Allred, is deafening...

links in next post

The moment I walked into our girls’ restroom and found a boy standing there, I turned and fled — the school’s surveillance video caught me running out. I tried to get the attention of administrators to explain to them how uncomfortable — how scared — I felt sharing the girls’ restroom with a boy. They wouldn’t listen. The principal simply wrote down my concerns on a Post-it note and said he’d contact me soon. He never did.

www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/11/29/transgender-bathroom-debate-privacy-school-lawsuit-column/2123946002/

In order to make a small number of people who say they're the sex they are not feel more 'comfortable', a very large number of girls and women indeed must be forced to feel 'uncomfortable' - and unsafe.

Absolutely, Vicky. And mentioning our own feelings about it is, of course "hatred." How hateful does Alexis sound?

As a former foster child who bounced around through the system, I know what it’s like to be seeking an identity and trying to come to terms with who you are. As a black girl who grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, I know what it’s like to be treated unfairly, picked on, and made fun of by insensitive people. I won’t accept anyone being bullied or discriminated against — and that absolutely includes my classmates experiencing gender dysphoria. They deserve our love and support. Even so, my privacy shouldn’t depend on what others believe about their own gender.

There is certainly one boy and parents who have taken out similar proceedings in the US. Which is all to the good, I think, involving both sexes and privacy, dignity and safety. Will watch with interest.

She sounds amazing!

It's good that there are people willing to test the courts with these situations. I do wonder how unbiased and impartial supreme court judges actually are in this matter.

Laws passed or repealed or tested in one country don't automatically mean that they should, would or could apply in another country. Humans can't change sex regardless of their citizenship.....

AncientLights, Alexis' two co-plaintiffs are boys, but they are remaining anonymous for now. I agree that it is a smart approach to have plaintiffs of both sexes. And I wanted to stand up and applaud when I saw that they are focusing on students' right to privacy as well as safety. Both matter!

stillathing, I agree, she is an impressive young woman. Actually brave and stunning!

Blythe, it is a very, very deeply weird thing to be an American woman these days, and hoping that Brett "I only try to rape vagina girls" Kavanaugh might be the deciding vote to protect girls' private spaces in schools.

Two more links on this case:

(local paper on the appeal):
www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-boyertown-transgender-bathroom-supreme-court-peitition-20181119-story.html

ADF on Alexis:
www.adflegal.org/detailspages/client-stories-details/alexis-lightcap

makes this good point: ...she should be able to attend to the most private, intimate needs of her body knowing that only other girls will observe or overhear her. Alexis has no problem sharing her privacy facilities with students who identify as transgender as long as they are the same sex as she.