Jacqui White, Staff Writer

A high school student in Virginia is currently fighting for the right to use the bathroom that he feels corresponds with his gender identity.

Gavin Grimm, a transgender male, went to court last summer in order to be allowed to use the boy’s bathroom at his high school. The lower court ruled in favor of Grimm. However, the Supreme Court agreed to temporarily halt the decision while it considered an appeal from the Gloucester County School Board.

The school originally told Grimm he could use the bathroom in the nurse’s office or the newly built single stall bathrooms in the school. Grimm refuted, arguing that the bathrooms are unisex and he’s not a unisex person.

With the Supreme Court taking up the case, justices announced Friday that they will hear the case’s appeal sometime next year. Grimm is barred from using the boy bathroom in the meantime. He plans on fighting until he’s allowed access, stating he doesn’t want any other transgender student to go through what he’s experiencing.

At Utica College, the bathrooms in the downstairs library have been changed to unisex in an effort to accommodate the transgender and non-binary student population.

UC Criminal Justice major Jenifer Stimpson agrees with Grimm on how the Supreme Court should handle the case.

“I don’t really see what the big deal is about him using the boy’s bathroom,” Stimpson said.

She explained that if a transgender student wanted to use the female bathroom while she was in there it wouldn’t make her that uncomfortable, pointing out the privacy that bathroom stalls provide.

Health Studies major Carly Tebolt echoes Stimpson’s thoughts.

“It doesn’t really affect me if a transgender student decides to use the girl’s bathroom while I’m in there,” Tebolt said. “They have the right to use the bathroom which fits the identity that they choose for themselves.”