The transgender student who waged a legal battle to use the girl's locker room at her suburban high school was granted access Jan. 15, Chicago Tribune reported.
The student had asked to use an isolated portion of the locker room to change clothes, but officials of the Palatine-based Township High School District 211 initially denied that request, prompting a discrimination complaint. After protracted negotiations and community meetingsand a federal determination that the district had violated Title IXthe District 211 school board voted to grant the student access in early December.
Officials ultimately decided to install several stalls in both the boys and girls locker rooms for any student wishing to change clothes with relative privacy. The identity of the transgender student has not been publicly revealed.
"The family has worked diligently with officials from the school district over the past several weeks to implement the settlement agreement," said Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for American Civil Liberties Union Illinois, which is representing the student. "They hope that this agreement is the beginning of a process which will result in all studentstransgender and cisgender ( or nontransgender )being respected and honored within District 211."
The Chicago Tribune's article is at http://trib.in/1ZpZMxV.
Trans-military ban decision expected
The Pentagon intends to make a determination on the transgender military ban this spring, after the conclusion this month of an internal six-month review, The Washington Blade reported.
"The transgender working group appointed by the secretary of defense will conclude its deliberations by the end of January and present its findings and recommendations directly to the secretary soon thereafter," Pentagon spokesperson Matthew Allen said.
The Blade article is at www.washingtonblade.com/2016/01/14/pentagon-expects-determination-on-trans-military-ban-in-spring/ .