Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/668971
ByLarryO'dell The Associated Press RICHMOND, VA. A Vir- ginia high school discrim- inated against a transgen- der teen by forbidding him from using the boys' re- stroom, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case that could have impli- cations for a North Caro- lina law that critics say dis- criminates against LGBT people. The case of Gavin Grimm has been especially closely watched since North Car- olina enacted a law last month that bans trans- gender people from us- ing public restrooms that correspond to their gen- der identity. That law also bans cities from passing anti-discrimination ordi- nances, a response to an ordinance recently passed in Charlotte. In the Virginia case, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which also cov- ers North Carolina — ruled 2-1 to overturn the Glouces- ter County School Board's policy, saying it violated Ti- tle IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in schools. A federal judge had previously rejected Grimm's sex discrimina- tion claim, but the court said that judge ignored a U.S. Department of Educa- tion regulation that trans- gender students in public schools must be allowed to use the restroom that cor- responds with their gender identity. "We agree that it has in- deed been commonplace and widely accepted to separate public restrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities on the basis of sex," the court wrote in its opinion. "It is not appar- ent to us, however, that the truth of these proposi- tions undermines the con- clusion we reach regarding the level of deference due to the department's inter- pretation of its own regu- lations." Maxine Eichner, a Uni- versity of North Carolina law professor who is an ex- pert on sexual orientation and the law, said the rul- ing — the first of its kind by a federal appeals court — means the provision of North Carolina's law per- taining to restroom use by transgender students in schools that receive federal funds also is invalid. "The effects of this de- cision on North Carolina are clear," she said, adding that a judge in that state will have no choice but to apply the appeals court's ruling. Other states in the 4th Circuit are Maryland, West Virginia and South Caro- lina. While those states are directly affected by the ap- peals court's ruling, Eich- ner said the impact will be broader. "It is a long and well- considered opinion that sets out the issues," she said. "It will be influential in other circuits." Appeals court Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, who was appointed to the appeals court by Republican Pres- ident George H.W. Bush, wrote in a dissenting opin- ion that the majority's opin- ion "completely tramples on all universally accepted protections of privacy and safety that are based on the anatomical differences be- tween the sexes." The majority opin- ion was written by Judge Henry F. Floyd and joined by Judge Andre M. Davis, both appointees of Dem- ocratic President Barack Obama. The Richmond- based court was long con- sidered the nation's most conservative federal ap- peals court, but a series of vacancies in the last few years has allowed Obama to reshape it. Including the two senior judges, the court now has 10 judges ap- pointed by Democrats and seven by Republicans. The school board could appeal the decision to the full appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court. David Patrick Corrigan, attorney for the school board, did not immediately respond to a telephone message. On another issue, the appeals court ordered the trial judge to reconsider his refusal to issue an order that would allow Grimm to use the boys' restrooms im- mediately. Grimm was born female but identifies as male. He was allowed to use the boys' restrooms at the school for several weeks in 2014. But after some par- ents complained, the school board adopted a policy re- quiring students to use ei- ther the restroom that cor- responds with their bio- logical gender or a private, single-stall restroom. Grimm called the pol- icy stigmatizing. School officials said the policy re- spects the privacy of all students. "I feel so relieved and vindicated by the court's ruling," Grimm said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents him. "Today's decision gives me hope that my fight will help other kids avoid discriminatory treatment at school." Grimm, 16, said he started refusing to wear girls' clothes by age 6 and told his parents he was transgender in April 2014. Grimm's parents helped him legally change his name, and a psychologist diagnosed him with gender dysphoria, characterized by stress stemming from conflict between one's gen- der identity and assigned sex at birth. Grimm be- gan hormone treatment to deepen his voice and give him a more masculine ap- pearance. Court overturns Virginia school's transgender bathroom rule CLOSELY WATCHED CASE STEVEHELBER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the Gloucester County School Board policy is discriminatory. By Tom Bell The Associated Press WHITEFIELD, MAINE Peter Froehlich lives at the end of a mile-long dirt road in a part of Maine where pickup trucks share the right of way with wander- ing dairy cows. The local cable company won't run a line down the road, and his cellphone is useless be- cause he lives in a wireless dead zone. Now Froehlich, 70, wor- ries a new Maine law will eventually allow the tele- phone company to unplug him from the plain old telephone service he de- pends on. "If they get out of the landline business, I will have no way to connect with anybody else, unless I get in my truck and drive out," he said. Maine is joining a grow- ing group of states that have passed laws to limit or remove requirements that telephone companies provide traditional, price- controlled phone service — in essence, moving to- ward a day when plain old landline phone ser- vice goes from an endan- gered species to extinct. Concern is acute in Maine, the most rural state and the one with the oldest av- erage population. Thirteen states in the past three years have said telephone companies can use alternative technology, like wireless and broad- band Internet, to provide basic service. Maine is the first to end basic phone service mandates in com- munities where there is competition, said Sherry Lichtenberg, principal at the National Regulatory Research Institute. FairPoint said that it will still offer landline service in those areas, but that the service quality and price will be left to the free market. California is consider- ing similar legislation. Ohio, Michigan and Ken- tucky have passed laws al- lowing telephone compa- nies to stop offering tra- ditional phone service and are now determining how to implement them, Lich- tenberg said. "It will be interesting to see how fast other states follow Maine," she said. The bill signed last week by Maine Republi- can Gov. Paul LePage gives the state's largest tele- phone company, FairPoint Communications, a "level playing field" in the most competitive areas of the state and maintains con- sumer protection in areas where choices are fewer, said Mike Reed, president of FairPoint in Maine, which has struggled finan- cially since buying Veri- zon's landline business in northern New England in 2007. "Maine has recognized the tensions the entire country faces," Reed said. Consumer groups that fought the bill argued it would allow FairPoint to abandon customers who still use their landline phones because they pre- fer the call quality and re- liability. The senior advocacy group AARP, which led the opposition, later agreed not to fight the bill after lawmakers added con- sumer protections that made it harder for the company to abandon ser- vice. Amy Regan Gallant, a lobbyist for AARP, said the group nevertheless re- mains worried about the long-term future of tradi- tional telephone service in Maine, with its implica- tions for older people not using wireless technology. "We do suspect this is the beginning of the end of landline phones," she said. The issue resonates in Maine because vast parts of the state have spotty cell coverage and lim- ited access to high-speed broadband service. But traditional phone companies can no lon- ger afford the high cost of maintaining the leg- acy phone network in ru- ral areas, and policy mak- ers have yet to figure out a long-term plan for sus- taining that network, said Jon Banks, an attorney with USTelecom, a trade group representing broad- band service providers. "It's a rural problem," he said. TELEPHONE SERVICE States move toward making endangered land lines extinct ROBERT F. BUKATY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Peter Froehlich holds the landline telephone he uses at his rural home in Whitefield, Maine. By Kristen De Groot The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA Donkeys will be dispatched around the city this summer ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the host com- mittee announced Tuesday. Fifty-seven fiberglass donkeys will be displayed at various sites and at- tractions starting July 1. The symbol of the Demo- cratic Party will represent each U.S. state, each terri- tory, Washington, D.C., and Democrats abroad. The donkeys will be painted with iconic im- ages from each location, chosen by each state's dele- gates. The ideas were given to Philadelphia artists to create. "Donkeys Around Town" is an effort to get residents in the convention spirit and encourage delegates and other visitors to explore the city. It's the brainchild of former Gov. Ed Rendell, who's the host committee chairman. Rendell said he was in- spired by a similar pro- gram in Erie a few years back that seemed to get tourists and locals excited to explore the city and the artworks. "I think it's going to be great for the delegates and great for the residents," Rendell said. The decorated donkeys will be found in places like the Betsy Ross House, the Philadelphia Art Museum and the city's Clef Club of Jazz. Pennsylvania's donkey was the first to be unveiled Tuesday. Painted royal blue with yellow ears, it depicts Pennsylvania icons such as the Liberty Bell, Amish country and the state's flag, bird and flower. The committee is put- ting the donkeys only at locations with security on site. POLITICS Donkeys slated to descend on Philadelphia ahead of convention MATT ROURKE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An example of one of dozens of fiberglass donkeys that will be positioned around Philadelphia ahead of the Democratic National Convention. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016 8 A