West Virginia joined five other states in a brief urging an appeals court to rule that a transgender teen hadn't been discriminated against when he was forbidden from using the boys' restroom at his Virginia high school.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Gloucester County School Board bathroom policy, finding that it violates Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in schools.
Besides in Virginia, the ruling automatically set precedent in West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland - states covered by the 4th Circuit.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined an amicus brief written by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, along with Arizona, Mississippi, and the governors of Maine and North Carolina.
The states that joined in the brief "share an interest in maintaining control of their schools and ensuring that they are not required to follow a United States Department of Education interpretation of its regulation that is contrary to Title IX," the amicus brief states.
The ruling says that by not allowing the transgender teen to use the boys' restroom, the Virginia school had violated a U.S. Department of Education rule that mandates transgender students in public schools be allowed to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify.
The amicus brief argues that Title IX applies only to biological sex, not to gender identity at odds with one's biological sex.
In its 2-1 decision, the court also reversed a federal judge's order and wrote that the student can sue the county school board in Virginia.
Morrisey released a statement late Wednesday saying he is disappointed by the ruling.
"This directly impacts West Virginia," Morrisey said in the emailed statement. "This sets federal precedent that could subject schools in West Virginia to lawsuits by self-identifying, transgender students who seek unfettered access to the bathroom, locker room or sports team of his or her choice."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.