Schools may keep separate facilities based on students’ biological sex without regard to ‘gender identity,’ AG Rokita says.
Attorney General Todd Rokita is leading a 25-state coalition asking a federal appeals court to reverse prior decisions that undermine schools’ ability to maintain sex-specific bathrooms and locker rooms.
In an amicus brief filed Monday, Attorney General Rokita argues that school policies requiring students to use facilities consistent with their biological sex are constitutional, reasonable, and necessary for protecting student privacy and safety.
“No child should be subjected to using a school restroom or locker room with someone of the opposite biological sex,” Attorney General Rokita said. “The Constitution and Title IX support commonsense safeguards that respect biology and shield kids from vulnerable situations.”
| The brief calls on the court to overrule two earlier decisions that compelled schools to allow students access to facilities based on gender identity — including in a 2023 case involving the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville in Indiana.
In the Martinsville case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the school district had to allow a student born female to use the boys’ restroom because the student had begun identifying as male. |
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| “Schools deserve the freedom to enact policies that reflect community values and protect our kids,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Mandating co-ed bathrooms or showers ignores biological realities and undermines the privacy and safety of every student.”
In the brief, Indiana and 24 sign-on states argue that the U.S. Supreme Court has now made clear — in United States v. Skrmetti — that policies applying equally to all students based on biological sex do not violate the constitutional principle of equal protection or the stipulations of Title IX. In addition to the 25 states participating through their attorneys general, the Arizona State Legislature also joined the brief.
The brief emphasizes that Title IX — passed in 1972 — was never intended to require schools to grant access to boys’ or girls’ facilities based on their gender identity. Rather, the law clearly permits schools to separate facilities on the basis of biological sex.
“The Equal Protection Clause fiercely defends sex-separated bathrooms and locker rooms,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It demands schools protect every student’s privacy and dignity by unapologetically honoring the undeniable differences between the sexes.”
Attorney General Rokita’s leadership in this case reflects a broader commitment to protecting parental rights, student welfare, and the right of local schools to develop their own policies free of federal bureaucratic or judicial overreach. |
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