The Trevor Project filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County. Trevor is supporting Andrew Adams, a transgender student whose school denied him access to boys’ restrooms and attempted to force him to use gender-neutral facilities no other students used. The amicus brief provides the Court and the public with The Trevor Project’s unique insights into the serious harms inflicted on transgender students when they are denied access to school facilities consistent with their gender identity.
The Trevor Project hears regularly via our crisis intervention and suicide prevention services about how detrimental and damaging policies restricting access to bathrooms in schools are to the transgender youth we serve. In addition to this direct experience, our research has found that preventing transgender and nonbinary youth from accessing appropriate bathrooms is associated with harmful mental health indicators.
A 2020 peer-reviewed study by The Trevor Project’s researchers, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that 58% of transgender and nonbinary youth surveyed reported being prevented or discouraged from using a bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Among those who experienced bathroom discrimination, 85% reported depressive mood and 60% seriously considered suicide. Furthermore, one in three transgender or nonbinary youth who experienced restroom discrimination reported a past-year suicide attempt, with one in five reporting multiple suicide attempts.
The Trevor Project was represented in this matter by pro bono counsel from Gibson Dunn, including Abbey Hudson, Shireen Barday, Allie Begin, Terry Wong, and Bobby DeNault.
