Apple backs transgender student in Supreme Court fight

By

Supreme Court plaintiff and LGBT rights advocate Gavin Grimm.
Apple is backing Supreme Court plaintiff and LGBT rights advocate Gavin Grimm.
Photo: Geoff Livingston/Flickr CC

Apple and dozens of other top tech companies filed a Supreme Court brief today in support of a transgender boy’s fight for equality.

In the case, Gavin Grimm, a transgender student from Virginia, is suing the Gloucester County School Board for creating a bathroom policy he says discriminates against transgender students by separating them from their peers.

Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and 49 other businesses all signed the brief, which was filed by the Human Rights Campaign today. All the companies are urging the Supreme Court to rule in Grimm’s favor.

“These companies are sending a powerful message to transgender children and their families that America’s leading businesses have their backs,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

The fight for transgender rights

The filing comes one week after Apple slammed President Donald Trump for rolling back protections for transgender students previously put in place by President Barack Obama. Apple released a statement saying everyone deserves to thrive in an environment free of discrimination.

“We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals,” said an Apple spokesperson. “We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.”

Oral arguments for Grimm’s case are scheduled for the end of the month. If Grimm’s lawyers succeed, the appeal could close the book on transgender students’ rights once and for all.

Other signees of the Supreme Court brief includes Airbnb, eBay, Gap, Intel, LinkedIn, MAC Cosmetics, PayPal, Salesforce, Twitter, Warby Parker, Williams-Sonoma, Yahoo and Yelp.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.