Transgender High School Grads Awarded $20K Each After Suing District Over Bathroom Policy

Aug 11, 2017 by Jill

by Samuel Smith, Christian Post:

Three transgender teenagers have been awarded $20,000 each from their Pennsylvania school district as part of a legal settlement to a lawsuit challenging the school district over its bathroom and locker room policies.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Elissa Ridenour, Juliet Evancho and a third unidentified transgender student, all of whom have since graduated from Pine-Richland High School in Allegheny County, each received $20,000 from the Pine-Richland School District as a result of a lawsuit they filed last year.

Ridenour and Evancho are both male but identify as female, while the third student is female but identifies as a male. The defendants claim that they were prevented from accessing the bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.

The students sued the school district in federal court in response to a policy enacted by the school board last fall that required students to use bathrooms consistent with their birth sex or use unisex bathrooms. The board’s decision came after parents voiced concerns about the school district’s previous policy that allowed students who identify as transgender to enter any bathroom they wanted.

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