A Wisconsin school district just got served a slice of legal reality after a federal appeals court ruled that an 11-year-old transgender girl can, in fact, use the girls’ bathroom at her school. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling that blocked the Mukwonago Area School District from enforcing its birth-sex bathroom policy — a policy that would have forced the student to either use the boys’ bathroom or a separate, gender-neutral option. Translation? Institutionalized humiliation, narrowly avoided.
The student, identified only as D.P., had been using the girls’ bathroom without drama since the first grade — until a few pearl-clutching parents complained in spring 2023. Instead of shutting down the nonsense, the school board doubled down, adopting a policy straight out of the 1950s that restricted restroom use based on birth sex. But D.P. and her mother weren’t having it. They sued — and won, again.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman originally ruled that the policy likely violated D.P.’s rights under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. When the school district tried to weasel out of it on a technicality, crying procedural foul because the judge ruled without a hearing, the appeals court wasn’t buying it. “You had every chance to speak up — and didn’t,” the judges basically said, adding that there were no factual disputes requiring a hearing. The shade was judicial and justified.
The ruling also reaffirmed existing legal precedent — namely Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District and A.C. v. Martinsville — which protect trans students’ rights to use restrooms aligned with their gender identity. The court called D.P.’s case “materially identical” and indicated her chances of ultimately winning are high. Attorney Alexa Milton, who represented D.P., said the ruling keeps her client’s rights protected while the lawsuit continues in the lower court.
The school district, still clinging to its outdated views, says it will enforce the policy “for everyone else” while the case proceeds. But the court’s decision ensures D.P. can pee in peace — without harassment or being kicked out of class for daring to use the correct restroom. For the record: the girl was literally removed from summer school for using the bathroom like every other sixth grader. Let that sink in.
Though the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in United States v. Skrmetti could eventually shift the legal landscape for trans youth, the appeals court made it clear: right now, in the Seventh Circuit, trans students deserve protection — and dignity.
For the LGBTQ community, this ruling isn’t just about a bathroom. It’s about visibility, justice, and basic respect for who we are. As trans youth face mounting political attacks, this legal win offers a flicker of hope — and a reminder that when we fight back, we can win.