PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Parents at a rural Oregon high school have filed a federal lawsuit over the school district’s policy to allow a transgender male student into the boys’ locker room and bathroom.
The lawsuit filed this week in Portland challenges a decision by the Dallas School District to allow 16-year-old Elliot Yoder to use boys’ facilities.
Elliot was born a biological female but identifies as male.
He came out in 2015 at a school board meeting during an uproar about the district’s policy. He asked to use the boy’s locker room for PE when he was a freshman, instead of the unisex bathroom, which is not near the gym.
“It’s alienating and embarrassing to have to be treated like you’re other,” Elliot told KOIN 6 News.
Oregon guidelines released last year outline what districts should do to accommodate transgender students.
The district honored Elliot’s request, but some parents say their children’s rights are being violated by the policy and they aren’t comfortable changing around a transgender student.
The district did not return a call for comment.
Defendants also include the state of Oregon and the U.S. Department of Education.
Dallas has 15,000 residents and is about 60 miles south of Portland.KOIN 6 News reporter Lisa Balick contributed to this report.