two school boards let trans kids use the right bathroom. a judge said sue somewhere else. the appeals court said no, sue here.

via the Fourth Circuit's opinion and The Hill

A federal appeals court on Thursday revived the lawsuits two Northern Virginia school boards filed against Trump's Education Department, which went after them for letting trans students use the bathroom.

The Fairfax County and Arlington districts let students use "a locker room or restroom consistent with the student's gender identity," the opinion says, and argue the Fourth Circuit's own 2020 Grimm ruling requires it. The department found them in violation of Title IX anyway, labeled them "high-risk" grantees, moved their federal grants to a reimbursement method of payment, and started proceedings to cut funding off. A district judge then dismissed their suits on his own, ruling that the dispute was really about grant money and belonged in the Court of Federal Claims.

The panel split 2-1. Judge Rushing, joined by Chief Judge Diaz, wrote that "the core of the school districts' claims is not that the Department has breached its contractual obligations but rather that the Department is enforcing Title IX against them." Judge Richardson, dissenting, said the districts were "dressing up a contract claim in statutory clothes."

The majority was careful to win small. It decided where the case gets heard, and "we go no further." Whether Title IX protects these bathroom policies goes back to the district court. Still, getting to argue it in front of a judge, instead of a court built for money claims against the government, is the whole ballgame for now. The districts have not actually lost any money yet, the court notes. They have just been told they might.