St. Johns County, Florida — December 30, 2022. Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc (full court), ruled in favor of St. Johns County schools in Florida, letting the school district maintain separate bathrooms based on biological sex. Accepting a legal position advanced by the Center for Religious Expression (CRE) in an amicus brief – as well as the realities of biology – the appellate court rendered a decision providing needed protection and privacy for students.
CRE wrote its amicus brief on behalf of Walt Heyer, a former transgender person, who supported the school district and contested the claim of transgender activists that separate bathrooms and facilities are discriminatory. Heyer de-transitioned back to his original male sex after finding the supposed remedy harmful and wanted to weigh in on the issue.
The school district lost the case when the matter was before a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit. But the full court reached a different conclusion, issuing an opinion upholding separate school bathrooms based on biological sex as constitutional and appropriate.
“The en banc sitting of the Eleventh Circuit got it right. In a time and era when common sense is often discarded in favor of political pandering, it is heartening to know citizens can still count on the courts for just decisions,” said CRE Chief Counsel Nate Kellum. “Bathrooms have been historically separated by biological sex for good reason.”
Center for Religious Expression is a servant-oriented, non-profit 501(c)(3) Christian legal organization dedicated to the glory of God and the religious freedom of His people. For more information, visit http://www.crelaw.org.
