Why Laverne Cox told you to Google ‘Gavin Grimm’
Gavin Grimm with his parents, David Grimm and Deirdre Grimm, at their home in Gloucester, Va., this past August. The transgender teen sued the Gloucester County School Board after it barred him from using the boys’ bathroom. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)
A few years ago, Gavin Grimm was an unknown student at a high school in Gloucester, Va., pleading with school officials to be able to use the boys’ bathroom. The teen, who came out as transgender his sophomore year, had begun using the boys’ bathroom when the school board decided to pass a policy banning him from it, forcing him to use a unisex bathroom instead.
Sunday night, millions more people learned his name after Laverne Cox, an actress and transgender activist, gave him a shout-out while introducing Metallica and Lady Gaga at the Grammys.
“Everyone, please Google ‘Gavin Grimm.’ He’s going to the Supreme Court in March. Hashtag stand with Gavin,” Cox told the audience. Cox signed off her introduction by referring to “Ladies and gentlemen and all my gender non-binary peeps tonight…”
Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board in 2015 in federal court, arguing that the board’s policy barring him from the boys’ bathroom violated Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in schools. The case is now headed for the Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for late March, and the case could impact how public schools accommodate transgender students across the nation.
The case is partially based on a directive issued by the Education Department under the Obama administration in May, directing the nation’s public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Should the Trump administration rescind that directive, some question whether the high court will hear the case at all, or if it will be Why Laverne Cox told you to Google ‘Gavin Grimm’ - The Washington Post: