Akin Gump Files Amicus Brief in Support of Transgender Students in 11th Circuit

(Washington D.C.) – Akin Gump filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of a group of scholars last week in support of Drew Adams, a transgender student at a Florida public high school that banned him from using the men’s bathroom due to school board policy. Many of the 15 amici, who study demographics, economics, law, psychology, political science, public health and public policy, are affiliated with the Williams Institute, an academic research center at UCLA School of Law dedicated to the study of sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

Harnessing scholarly research, as well as statistical, demographic and historical evidence, amici  argued that policies (like the school board’s) that discriminate against transgender individuals are deserving of heightened judicial scrutiny under the test that the Supreme Court has established for equal protection claims. Amici focus especially on social-science and other research revealing the discrimination transgender people face in both legal (e.g., local, state, and federal legislatures and courts) and societal (e.g., education, criminal justice, employment, housing, health care) contexts. 

Akin Gump, which is handling the matter pro bono, filed the brief on February 28, 2019, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The case is Drew Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County, Florida, No. 18-13592. 

The Akin Gump team working on the brief include litigation partner James Tysse, senior counsel Jessica Weisel and associate Markos Generales.

Please click here to view a copy of the brief.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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