A Minnesota school district reached a $300,000 settlement reportedly with a transgender student, according to media reports.
The ACLU of Minnesota and nonprofit Gender Justice announced the settlement in a lawsuit against Anoka-Hennepin School District.
Not only did the district settle at $300,000, it also agreed to make some changes like reaffirming its commitment to comply with the Minnesota Human Rights Act, not discriminating against or segregating transgender students, developing a policy to allow every student to use all facilities consistent with their gender identity, training all board members, staff and students on these policies and affirming students of all gender identities.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen a growing wave of political attacks against the rights of transgender children to health care, education or even to play sports,” said Gender Justice Executive Director Megan Peterson. “Students like Nick need and deserve the same acceptance as their classmates. Instead, far too many are being targeted for discrimination by adults who should be watching out for them. With this settlement, we hope to send a message that discrimination against trans students is not only wrong, it comes at a cost.”
According to David McKinney, the ACLU-MN staff attorney, said the teen started at Coon Rapids High School in 2015. After joining the boys’ swimming team and using the boys’ locker room for months, the school board told the student if he continued using the locker room he’d be disciplined.
