Transgender ruling upheld

By Associated Press

A state appeals court judge yesterday upheld a lower court's decision allowing a transgendered teenager to return to junior high school classes.

The eighth-grade student, referred to in court documents as Pat Doe, was barred from attending South Junior High School in Brockton as long as he continued to wear girl's clothing to school.

The boy's grandmother sued Brockton schools. A therapist had diagnosed the student with gender identity disorder, and said failure to allow him to dress as a girl would be harmful to his mental health.

Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Linda Giles had issued a preliminary injunction allowing the 15-year-old to attend classes while the case is pending.

The schools had challenged Giles' decision saying she had made some legal errors and was not impartial because the gay judge had once been an attorney for the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the organization that represents the student.

But Appeals Court Judge George Jacobs wrote in his decision that Giles ''appears to have applied proper legal standards...'' and ''... did not abuse her discretion in granting the preliminary injunction in question.''

''It's a great decision... and affirms that it's necessary for this student to be able to express her female gender identity and doing so doesn't cause harm to anybody else,'' said lawyer Jennifer Levi of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, who refers to Doe as ''she.''

Edward Lenox, an attorney representing the Brockton public schools, had argued that rulings in prior cases support the school's decision.

''I am very disappointed,'' Lenox said. ''I think that the case law as it exists, fully supports the school department's position on this matter.''

The student has been attending classes for about two weeks without problems, Levi said.

''She is a really bright young person and she has been welcomed back by other students,'' Levi said.

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