In the article, "District ordered to pay transgender student $75K" (Link to Article) it states that in Maine, a court has awarded the family of a transgender girl, Nicole Maines, a settlement of $75,000. This was the outcome of Nicole's discrimination lawsuit against a school that made her use a staff bathroom instead of a student bathroom due to her being transgender. This case was brought before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that the school violated the Maine Human Rights Act. This is the first time that a state high court has determined that a transgender person could use whichever gender bathroom that they identified with. Nicole was awarded this settlement last week.
This event could possibly affect the whole nation. If Maine has accepted that it is discrimination to make a transgender person use a separate bathroom from the other students, then several other states will most likely follow when there are more lawsuits filed like this. It's interesting to see that state governments are starting to take discrimination against transgender people more seriously. I think that Nicole was right in taking the steps to ensure that she received the same rights and conditions that all her fellow students received. Hopefully, discrimination against transgender people and other minorities will continue to be challenged in the United States.
It's really amazing how cruel people can be to people who are different, and trans people especially face a lot of discrimination. People see them as "it"s and constantly dehumanize them, and it's treatment like this that had led to parents abandoning their trans kids or abusing them. Did you know that 1 in 2 transgender people will be sexually abused or assaulted? It's disgusting. A suit over which bathroom students are allowed to use may be a small thing, but it's a bunch of little steps like these that will eventually lead to wider acceptance of these people into everyday life. No one should have to face this much hate for something many of them can't control, and I'm glad the justice system is so far taking the side of the trans community.
ReplyDelete