Prior ruling in case against Mukwonago school district scrapped after SCOTUS decision on trans kids

After ruling just weeks ago in favor of a transgender student who sued her school district in southeast Wisconsin, a federal appeals court has now scrapped its previous decision.

Now, both sides will re-submit arguments in the case in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Two years ago, an 11-year-old transgender girl sued the Mukwonago Area School District, arguing that a district policy banning her from using the girls’ bathroom violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

The policy says that, while on district property or at district-sponsored events, students should use restrooms and locker rooms according to their sex assigned at birth.

The lawsuit against that policy was filed by the student and her mother, who are not named in the suit and are referred to in legal documents as Jane Doe numbers 1 and 2.

According to court documents, the student had been using the girls’ bathroom without incident, but when she neared the end of fifth grade the district started to get complaints from some parents.

“In response the school district began considering a new policy that would require transgender students to use a designated transgender bathroom
or a single-occupancy, gender-neutral alternative,” court documents say. “(The student’s) mother objected that such a policy would single out and stigmatize her
daughter.”

While the student was in summer school in June of 2023, school officials would remove her from class and contact her mother whenever she used the girls’ bathroom, according to the lawsuit. Later in June, the school district adopted a formal policy, stating students should use the bathroom facilities of their sex assigned at birth.

The policy said certain exceptions to those rules could be considered on a “case-by-case basis in consultation with the student, the student’s parents” and a team of district staff.

In mid-June, a U.S. appeals court sided with the student, and upheld a preliminary injunction handed down from a lower court. The order blocked the school from enforcing its policy against the student while the case is pending.  

But, this week, the appeals court vacated its recent order in the pending case because of a Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Skrmetti.

In that ruling, justices concluded a Tennessee law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. The law in that state bans using hormone therapy or puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in children.

Because of that ruling, the Mukwonago district now has until the end of July to re-submit briefs in the Wisconsin case. For the student and her mother, the deadline is Sept. 2.

In a statement, attorney Alexa Milton said she believes the student will prevail in her overall challenge to the district policy.

“We are disappointed by the court’s order, but do not think that the Supreme Court’s recent decision changes the correct outcome here and look forward to demonstrating that in court,” said Milton, who represents the student and her mother.

Meanwhile, the district officials say they will continue to defend the bathroom and locker room policy in court.

“The MASD will argue, under the Supreme Court’s Skrmetti decision, the restroom/locker room use policy does not violate Title IX, the 14th Amendment, or any other existing law,” a statement from the district says.