In
Students and Parents for Privacy v. School Directors of Township High School District 211, (ND IL, March 29, 2019), an Illinois federal district court refused to dismiss religious exercise claims by a group of students and parents who object to a high school's policy that allows transgender students to use rest room and locker rooms conforming to their gender identity. Adopting plaintiffs' label of "compelled affirmation policy," the court held that plaintiffs had stated a claim under Title IX, the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. The court said in part:
It is enough that plaintiffs allege SPP Parents and SPP Students have sincere religious beliefs that they should not undress or use the bathroom in front of members of the opposite sex and that SPP Parents have a sincere religious belief that they should teach such modesty to their children....
SPP Students are at risk of exposure to opposite-sex individuals while they are undressing or using the restroom, in violation of their sincerely-held religious beliefs....
[P]laintiffs have alleged that District 211 conveyed to students that anyone who objects to the compelled affirmation policy is a bigot or intolerant.
The court however dismissed plaintiffs' claims of violations of the right to bodily privacy and the right to control the education of one's children.
