As we previously reported to you, Township High School District 211 has faced a number of legal actions from different stakeholders regarding the locker room or restroom access it provides to transgender students. On January 25, 2018, the District prevailed in one such suit, brought by Palatine High School senior Nova Maday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (state court).
According to Maday’s complaint, Maday presented as female and went by her female name and female pronouns. However, she was not permitted to use the girls’ locker room the same way other female students were. In particular, she was required to change in a separate, private area unlike other students. Maday’s suit claimed that these actions violated her rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act and requested an injunction against the District to grant her use of the locker room facilities consistent with other female students. However, the press is reporting that in a ruling issued on January 25, 2018, Judge Thomas Allen denied Maday’s motion for an injunction stating that state law does not require “full and equal access” to school facilities because the Illinois legislature amended the Human Rights Act in 2010 to only protect “access,” something the District had provided Maday. Although Maday has lost this round in court, her attorneys from the ACLU of Illinois stated that they there were considering their next steps in the matter.
