John Doe is a transgender student who transitioned in second grade. For over eight years, the school district prohibited John from using the boys’ restroom and locker room. By the time John reached high school, he would avoid going to the restroom all day, interfering with this ability to focus in class.

In May 2016, Texas, joined by Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin, filed a federal lawsuit challenging guidance issued by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice recognizing that schools must be safe, respectful and nurturing environments for all students, including those who are transgender.

On October 25, 2016, NCLR filed an amicus brief before the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit in Carcano v. McCrory arguing that laws that singling out transgender people for discrimination must be subjected to strict constitutional scrutiny and that North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (HB 2) fails that test.

On October 21, 2016, Equality Utah and three students, represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP, filed a federal lawsuit challenging state laws that ban positive speech about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Utah public schools.

On May 14, 2014, Gildas Dousset, a student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, filed an appeal in state court seeking recognition of his marriage to his husband. The appeal argued that Florida’s laws barring recognition of the valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples violate the United States Constitution.