Virginia Bill Seeks to Restrict Trans Students' Restroom Access

A Virginia legislator has introduced a bill that would restrict transgender students' access to school restrooms and other facilities.

John Avioli, a Republican member of the House of Delegates, last week introduced the legislation, which states that multi-user restrooms, changing rooms, and overnight accommodations must be restricted to members of the same "biological sex," the Washington Blade reports. It does give an option for single-user facilities.

The Republicans gained control of the House in last year's election, in which GOPer Glenn Youngkin won the governor's race. The Democrats still have a majority in the state Senate, making the bill's chances slim there.

Another anti-trans bill has been introduced in the Senate. The bill from Republican Sen. Travis Hackworth would rescind the law requiring schools to adopt the Virginia Department of Education's guidelines for equal treatment of trans students. Del. Danica Roem, Virginia's first trans legislator, told the Blade Hackworth's bill "would be dead on arrival" in committee.

Both bills appear to run afoul of a major court ruling. Both the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have ruled that the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia, where trans boy Gavin Grimm attended high school, violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause by prohibiting Grimm from using the same facilities as the other boys at his school. The school made Grimm use separate restrooms. The Supreme Court declined to hear the school board's appeal, letting the Fourth Circuit's ruling stand.

The Advocate has placed an inquiry with the American Civil Liberties Union concerning the ruling's implications for the new legislation.