4th Circuit, Supreme Court

Read Judge Davis's Powerful Opinion Vacating The Gavin Grimm / Virginia Transgender Bathroom Injunction

When it comes to combatting injustice, "the judiciary’s response has been decidedly mixed."

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Senior Judge Andre Davis

Senior Judge Andre Davis

After the Supreme Court ditched the G.G. v. Gloucester School Board case earlier this year, the matter appeared destined to unceremoniously die as moot. Not that the issue of transgender rights has yet slipped into the national rearview mirror where America keeps its past injustices — passed by, but hopefully never truly absent as reminders — but moot because Gavin Grimm will soon graduate from the school system that fought him all the way to the Supreme Court and back. (UPDATE: Josh Block from the ACLU points out for clarity that damages and an injunction if Gavin returns to the school as an alum remain on the table — only the preliminary injunction to allow Gavin to use Gloucester’s facilities as a student is off the table.)

Today the court granted an unopposed motion to vacate the preliminary injunction and effectively end the matter [again, to clarify, of Gavin’s rights as a student at the school].

But before the case could fade away, Senior Judge Andre Davis provided a final signpost on Grimm’s case with an opinion concurring in the decision, joined by Judge Henry Franklin Floyd.

These individuals looked to the federal courts to vindicate their claims to human dignity, but as the names listed above make clear, the judiciary’s response has been decidedly mixed. Today, G.G. adds his name to the list of plaintiffs whose struggle for justice has been delayed and rebuffed; as Dr. King reminded us, however, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” G.G.’s journey is delayed but not finished.

UPDATE: For those interested in the overall posture of the case, the court is asking for supplemental briefing on the remaining issues, with an eye toward argument in September.

The full opinion is provided below. It’s short and well worth your time.

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