In another legal decision affirming federal law ensures bathroom access for transgender students, a federal appeals court has determined a transgender student in Wisconsin must be allowed access to restrooms at his high school consistent with his gender identity.

In a 35-page decision, a three-judge panel the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of Ashton Whitaker, a 17-year-old who sued Kenosha Unified School District for requiring him to use a restroom separate from one used by all other students.

Writing for the court, U.S. Circuit Judge Ann Claire Williams, determined Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, which bars discrimination in schools on the basis of sex, applies to Ash’s situation: “A policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender non‐conformance, which in turn violates Title IX,” Williams writes.

The 7th Circuit ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions that have determined Title IX ensures bathroom access for transgender students, even though the law makes no explicit mention of transgender students. Read more via Washington Blade