Rokita Takes Action Defending Schools’ Right to Sex-Specific Areas
Rokita Takes Action Defending Schools’ Right to Sex-Specific Spaces
STATEWIDE — Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is helping lead a 25-state coalition asking a federal appeals court to reverse prior decisions that undermine the ability of schools to maintain sex-specific bathrooms and locker rooms.
In an amicus brief filed Monday, Attorney General Rokita argued that school policies requiring students to use these areas consistent with their biological sex are “constitutional, reasonable, and necessary for protecting student privacy and safety.”
“No child should be subjected to using a school restroom or locker room with someone of the opposite biological sex,” Rokita said. “The Constitution and Title IX support commonsense safeguards that respect biology and shield kids from vulnerable situations.”
The brief mentions two cases that are being asked of the court to overrule. One of them includes the 2023 case involving the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, Indiana. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the Martinsville school district had to allow a student born female to use the boys’ restroom because she started identifying herself as male.
“Schools deserve the freedom to enact policies that reflect community values and protect our kids,” Rokita added. “Mandating co-ed bathrooms or showers ignores biological realities and undermines the privacy and safety of every student.”
The brief mentions the U.S. Supreme Court case of United States v. Skrmetti which says that policies applying equally to all students based on biological sex do not violate the constitutional principle of equal protection or the stipulations of Title IX. Title IX, which was passed in 1972, permits schools to separate facilities on the basis of biological sex, not gender identity.
“The Equal Protection Clause fiercely defends sex-separated bathrooms and locker rooms,” said Rokita. “It demands schools protect every student’s privacy and dignity by unapologetically honoring the undeniable differences between the sexes.”
Rokita says schools may keep separate facilities based on students’ biological sex without regard to ‘gender identity.’
