INDIANAPOLIS, (WOWO) – Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is leading a coalition of 25 states urging a federal appeals court to uphold schools’ right to maintain sex-specific bathrooms and locker rooms based on students’ biological sex.
In an amicus brief filed Monday, Rokita argued that such policies are constitutional, reasonable, and necessary to protect student privacy and safety. He called on the court to overturn two previous rulings — including a 2023 case involving the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville — that required schools to allow students to use facilities matching their gender identity.
“No child should be subjected to using a school restroom or locker room with someone of the opposite biological sex,” Rokita said. “The Constitution and Title IX support commonsense safeguards that respect biology and shield kids from vulnerable situations.”
The Martinsville case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which sided with a student born female who had begun identifying as male, ruling the student could use the boys’ restroom. Rokita’s coalition contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti affirms that policies applying equally to all students based on biological sex do not violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause.
The brief, joined by the Arizona State Legislature and attorneys general from 24 other states, emphasizes that Title IX — enacted in 1972 — was never intended to require access to opposite-sex facilities based on gender identity. Instead, the law permits schools to maintain separate spaces for male and female students.
“Schools deserve the freedom to enact policies that reflect community values and protect our kids,” Rokita said. “Mandating co-ed bathrooms or showers ignores biological realities and undermines the privacy and safety of every student.”
Rokita said this effort reflects his broader commitment to defending parental rights, safeguarding student welfare, and ensuring local schools can set their own policies without federal overreach.
