NE organization joins groups supporting student privacy in locker, rest rooms

The Nebraska Family Alliance has joined an amicus brief along with more than 8,900 students, parents and concerned citizens in the U.S. to support student privacy in locker rooms and rest rooms.

Alliance for Defending Freedom filed an amicus brief, or “friend of the court” brief, on behalf of parents and students in all 50 states who have an interest in safeguarding the privacy and safety of students.

An amicus brief allows individuals or groups, who although not a party to the case, to assist the court by offering pertinent information that bears on the case.

As the family policy council for the state of Nebraska, NFA joined this brief to represent the interests of many concerned parents, students and educators who have legitimate concerns and feel they are unable to add their names themselves.

In the Gloucester decision, for the first time ever, a court determined that in Title IX the term “sex” no longer refers to the biological differences between males and females. Rather, it refers to subjective feelings of “gender identity.”

The case involves a student in Virginia demanding access to facilities reserved for members of the opposite sex. 

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling focused on whether Title IX also bans discrimination based on “gender identity.” The court found that because Title IX is “silent as to which rest room transgender individuals are to use when a school elects to provide sex-segregated rest rooms,” the Department of Education’s re-interpretation should be given controlling deference.

In other words, the Fourth Circuit Court discarded the traditional meaning of “sex” in Title IX and substituted “gender identity.” This ruling not only rewrites the language of Title IX and its regulations, but goes against every other court decision in the country.

ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp said, “Title IX’s regulations specifically authorize schools to have separate facilities for boys and girls, and accommodates students who aren’t comfortable using facilities designated for their biological sex.”