(The Lion) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a transgender student’s claim against a school district for denying the student access to single-sex facilities.
The student, identified as R.M.A. in court documents, was a female who began identifying as a male while a minor at Blue Springs School District outside Kansas City, Missouri. The student successfully petitioned for a male name change and a birth certificate reflecting the name change and “sex designation from female to male,” court filings indicate.
When the teenager sought to use male locker rooms and restrooms during eighth and ninth grade, the district denied the request – prompting the student to file a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination under the Missouri Human Rights Act. A jury in 2022 sided with the student, awarding more than $4 million in damages, as The Lion reported, but a trial judge overturned the verdict on the grounds that the student had not adequately proved sex discrimination.
The state Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision this week affirmed the lower court’s rejection of the student’s sex discrimination claims.
“Although R.M.A. argues the School District’s consideration of genitalia is inherently sex-related, the only evidence adduced at trial was that the School District’s decisions were based on the fact that R.M.A. had female genitalia. Under the definition of sex described above, therefore, R.M.A. did not adduce evidence that R.M.A.’s male sex was a contributing factor in the alleged discrimination,” the court noted, adding that there was no evidence presented that the school district prevented the “use of the male-designated restroom and locker room facilities” because of “R.M.A.’s male sex.”
The majority also noted that “none of the evidence presented supported an inference the School District made its decision based on how R.M.A. presented as male or based on ‘stereotypical attitudes’ of how a male ‘should act,’” in a footnote of the opinion. “Instead, R.M.A. asserts the School District discriminated ‘because he does not meet the stereotypical notions of what it means to be male (i.e., because he has female genitalia).’ A person’s biological sex, however, is not a stereotype.”
The Missouri ruling upholding biological sex as a standard for sex discrimination – rather than gender identity – comes as President Donald Trump has been issuing a nationwide crackdown on gender ideology being pushed upon minors. Since taking office, Trump has made it official U.S. policy that there are only two sexes and pushed back on biological males competing in female sports.
