A far-left group is once again suing the state of Tennessee over its policy of children using bathrooms based on their assigned sex at birth.

“This lawsuit challenges a recently enacted Tennessee law, the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act,” Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-801, et seq. (the “School Facilities Law” or “Law”), which bans transgender public school students from accessing multioccupancy restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity,” says a lawsuit filed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “By singling out transgender students for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into State law, the School Facilities Law violates the most basic guarantees of equal protection under the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”

The defendants in the case are the Williamson County Board of Education, Director of Williamson County Schools Jason Golden, and Penny Schwinn, the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education.

Initially, HRC filed a lawsuit against the state when the bill was first enacted in 2021 on behalf of a different student. But that lawsuit was nullified when the student and family moved from Tennessee to another state.

“It is unfortunate that Tennessee lawmakers are using their authority to attack some of our nation’s most vulnerable—our children. These power-seeking politicians will not stop pandering to their base, even if it means controlling which restrooms an 8-year8old uses at school,” said Cynthia Cheng-Wun Weaver, HRC’s litigation director, in a Thursday press release. “We should all be inspired by [the plaintiff’s] strength and determination to fight for the right to be who she is. She, and all transgender and nonbinary children in Tennessee, deserve to be affirmed and encouraged to be who they are, in all aspects of their lives.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an 8-year-old student, only referred to as D.H. in the lawsuit, whose parents say that student began to “transition” from male to female at age 6.

“Years ago, I chose to move to Tennessee because it was known as ‘The Volunteer State,’ whose citizens cared for their neighbors without hesitation – not a state that legalizes discrimination against helpless children,” said D.H.’s mother, called A.H. in the lawsuit. “Now, I am embarrassed to say that I live in a state that refuses to see anything beyond my child’s gender. She is a bright, friendly, funny, creative, enthusiastic, little girl and is always the first kid to cheer you on if you are struggling. By filing this lawsuit, I am showing my volunteer spirit – because I’m fighting to not only affirm my child’s existence, but also the thousands of transgender and nonbinary children who live in Tennessee.”

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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “All-Gender Restroom” by Ted Eytan. CC BY-SA 2.0.