Transgender students sue Pine-Richland School District over bathroom issue

Until Pine-Richland school officials began openly debating whether transgender students should be allowed to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity, Juliet Evancho and Elissa Ridenour said they had few problems in school.

“We're a minority in Pine-Richland, so it's not like they we're talking about a big group of people,” Evancho, 18, said about the public discussion that began last spring. “They were singling us out.”

Ridenour, 18, said those discussions made her feel “very alienated, like an outlier.”

Some parents had expressed concerns about allowing transgender students to use the restroom of their chosen identity. The school board studied, held workshops and discussed for months which bathrooms transgender students should be permitted to use.

On Sept. 12, the board voted 5-4 to establish a policy that limited transgender students to restrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex or to a unisex facility. The policy was implemented the following day.

On Thursday, a warning made prior to that September vote by the school district's attorney about the potential for lawsuits proved true: Evancho, Ridenour and a 17-year-old transgender male student identified as A.S. sued the district in federal court, Downtown, seeking to overturn the policy.

Evancho and Ridenour said that except for the occasional comment or stare, they felt accepted for who they are when they were in school. That changed when the restroom issue became a topic for discussion.

“I feel very isolated now,” said Ridenour. “Before, I knew who my allies were, but now I'm really not sure. I feel like I'm being watched in a petri dish, and they are poking at me and telling me what I have to do. I'm definitely more conscious about walking in the hallways now.”

Evancho said while “an overwhelming majority of students” continue to be supportive of the school's transgender students, the district's actions have deteriorated the climate of acceptance that had existed.

“It's never helpful, and never positive, to provide a platform for hate, misinformation and ignorance,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of the LGBT community.

Lambda Legal and the Kline and Specter law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of the three seniors.

Gonzalez-Pagan said the district “went against the tide and actually went against what is the law.” Legal cases across the country have found similar policies to be discriminatory and in violation of the federal Title IX policy, which prohibits gender discrimination in schools .

District officials declined to answer questions about the lawsuit.

“It's our policy not to discuss or comment on legal matters,” district spokeswoman Rachel Hathhorn said.

Superintendent Brian Miller and high school Principal Nancy Bowman are named in the lawsuit in addition to the school district.

School Director Peter Lyons, who voted against the bathroom measure, called the decision of his colleagues “unfortunate.”

“Unfortunately, the decision of those board members have now also embroiled the district in litigation that is likely to succeed and will become a costly and unnecessary distraction from our mission of focusing on student learning,” he said.

Other board members either declined to comment or did not return requests for comment.

Board President Jeffrey Banyas and board members Marc Casciani and Dennis Sundo also voted against the policy. Board members Greg DiTullio, Therese Dawson, Virginia Goebel, Holly Johnson and Steven Stegman voted in favor.

The Pennsylvania Youth Congress, a statewide LGBT youth organization, condemned the Pine-Richland policy.

“Equal protection is the law of the land and must be guaranteed in our public schools,” Executive Director Jason Landau Goodman said in a statement.

Lambda Legal said this is the first known lawsuit filed against a school district regarding transgender students under Title IX.

Pine-Richland risks losing federal Title IX funding, which amounted to about $1.4 million this year, Gonzalez-Pagan said.

In mid-May, the Obama administration issued a directive calling for public schools to permit transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen identity.

In addition to overturning the Pine-Richland policy, the three students are seeking compensatory damages.

“They want to be able to graduate Pine-Richland knowing that their school recognizes and respects who they are,” Gonzalez-Pagan said.

Elizabeth Behrman is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. She can be reached at 412-320-7886 or Lbehrman@tribweb.com.