Supreme Court Allows Trans Student to Choose Preferred Bathroom Temporarily

The Supreme Court has ruled that a transgender boy can use the bathroom of his choosing at a South Carolina school while he continues to challenge state law.

The court on Wednesday left in place a ruling by a federal appeals court that requires a Berkeley County school district to allow a transgender student to use the boys' bathroom while he continues his fight against a law that requires students to use bathrooms that correspond to their biological sex "at the time of birth," SCOTUSblog reported.

A brief, unsigned order said the court, in denying South Carolina's request to pause the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, "is not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation."

"Rather, it is based on the standards applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court," said the order, which applied to a single ninth-grade student known as John Doe.

The order also said Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented and would have granted the state's request, which would have allowed it to implement the law while the litigation continues.

South Carolina last week asked the high court to allow it to enforce a state law requiring schools to base bathroom use on biological sex.

The state's lawyers told the justices that the challenged South Carolina law was "supported by recent actions of the current presidential administration," putting federal funding at risk if schools do not designate bathrooms for use based on biological sex, The New York Times reported.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said the ruling was a temporary setback.

"We may have lost this battle, but we believe we will ultimately win the war," Wilson said in an email from a spokesperson to The State. "We will continue this fight at the Fourth Circuit and, if necessary, take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We are confident the law is on our side and will be upheld in the end."

• Alan Wilson to Newsmax: Supreme Court Will OK S.C.'s Trans Bathroom Ban
• Ed Dept. Warns 5 Va. School Districts Over Trans Policies