First-grader Coy Mathis will be able to return to school after winning the right to use the girls’ bathroom in a civil case against her elementary school. The first of a kind victory is being hailed as a “triumph for fairness.”
Transgender 6-year-old Coy Mathis won the right to use the girls' restroom at her elementary school in Fountain, Colorado, after the school banned her from doing so.
Biologically, Coy Mathis was born a boy. But since she was 18 months old, Coy began to show signs of identifying as a girl. She gravitated toward feminine clothing and toys usually associated with girls, and she would also refuse to leave the house dressed as a boy. Her family and friends all supported her as transgender. According to The New York Times, after consulting with doctors, Coy’s parents informed the school that she identified as a girl and should be treated as one. For over a year, she attended Eagleside Elementary as a girl with the teachers' and staff's support. Coy’s passport and state-issued identification also recognize her as female.
In December 2012, Coy's parents received a phone call "out of the blue," they said, from Eagleside Elementary School. The school explained that after winter break, Coy would no longer be allowed to use the girls' restroom. She would be allowed to use the boys’ bathroom, gender-neutral faculty bathrooms, or the nurse’s bathroom — but not the girls’ facilities.
Via: Handout / Reuters
Via: Brennan Linsley / AP
"... as Coy grows older and his male genitals develop along with the rest of his body, at least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable with his continued use of the girls' restroom."
Coy's parents, Kathryn and Jeremy Mathis, filed a complaint against Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 with the Colorado Civil Rights Division in February.
Coy and her siblings were pulled out of school for homeschooling while the case progressed. The Mathises stated they would not return them to school until Coy was allowed to use the girls’ bathroom again.
Via: Brennan Linsley / AP
