A transgender parent Tuesday dismissed his legal challenge to an Iowa City Community School District policy that restricts bathroom use based on biological sex.
That policy reflects a state law enacted last year — colloquially known as the "bathroom bill" — that bars transgender students and others from using a gender-specific school bathroom that jibes with their gender identities but not their sex assigned at birth.
The lawsuit was filed against the Iowa City school district in February by Finn Meadows, whose child attends Liberty High School in North Liberty.
The suit was among the reasons state lawmakers recently eliminated gender identity as a protected class in Iowa.
It’s unclear whether that change led Meadows to drop the lawsuit Tuesday.
Court records did not indicate a reason, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which was representing him in court, declined to elaborate.
“We don’t share private attorney-client communications about litigation strategy or decision making in our cases, but we at the ACLU remain committed to doing everything we can to protect the rights of transgender Iowans in this increasingly hostile environment,” said Rita Bettis Austen, the group’s legal director.
Meadows, in a complaint last year to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, said he had used men's public restrooms for about 17 years before school officials told him by phone that he "was no longer allowed to use the men's restroom in school facilities."
The commission did not determine his civil rights were violated, at least in part because last year's legislation specified that policies similar to the Iowa City schools’ were not violations, according to records filed in district court.
But the commission said he could file a lawsuit, which he did Feb. 17.
On Monday, the Iowa Attorney General's Office petitioned to participate in the lawsuit proceedings. Attorney General Brenna Bird argued she might be affected by the results of the lawsuit because the new law specifically tasks her with enforcing it.
"I'm fighting to make sure parents don't have to worry about grown adults using the wrong restrooms in their children's schools," Bird said in a statement.
She described the lawsuit’s withdrawal Tuesday as a “victory.”
That policy reflects a state law enacted last year — colloquially known as the "bathroom bill" — that bars transgender students and others from using a gender-specific school bathroom that jibes with their gender identities but not their sex assigned at birth.
The lawsuit was filed against the Iowa City school district in February by Finn Meadows, whose child attends Liberty High School in North Liberty.
The suit was among the reasons state lawmakers recently eliminated gender identity as a protected class in Iowa.
It’s unclear whether that change led Meadows to drop the lawsuit Tuesday.
Court records did not indicate a reason, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which was representing him in court, declined to elaborate.
“We don’t share private attorney-client communications about litigation strategy or decision making in our cases, but we at the ACLU remain committed to doing everything we can to protect the rights of transgender Iowans in this increasingly hostile environment,” said Rita Bettis Austen, the group’s legal director.
Meadows, in a complaint last year to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, said he had used men's public restrooms for about 17 years before school officials told him by phone that he "was no longer allowed to use the men's restroom in school facilities."
The commission did not determine his civil rights were violated, at least in part because last year's legislation specified that policies similar to the Iowa City schools’ were not violations, according to records filed in district court.
But the commission said he could file a lawsuit, which he did Feb. 17.
On Monday, the Iowa Attorney General's Office petitioned to participate in the lawsuit proceedings. Attorney General Brenna Bird argued she might be affected by the results of the lawsuit because the new law specifically tasks her with enforcing it.
"I'm fighting to make sure parents don't have to worry about grown adults using the wrong restrooms in their children's schools," Bird said in a statement.
She described the lawsuit’s withdrawal Tuesday as a “victory.”
Transgender parent drops Iowa City school bathroom lawsuit
The suit claimed the public school district’s policy that restricted bathroom use for transgender students and visitors was distressing and violated his rights. The dismissal follows the impending removal of ‘gender identity’ as a protected Iowa class.
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