Township High School School District 211 in Palatine, iL has a transgender student. In 2014, the girl was allowed to play sports, but has been forced to change in a separate room located a long way away from the gym.

The ACLU assisted the student to file a complaint with the DOE, calling the district's stance "blatant discrimination, no matter how the district tries to couch it."

We're talking about somebody who is being denied fair and equal treatment as compared to the other students, only because she is transgender.

--John Knight, ACLU of Illinois

Federal officials responded to the complaint, which was filed about a year and a half ago with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, by saying the school is in violation of the Title IX gender equality law, according to the ACLU and district officials. A representative of the civil rights office could not be reached Monday.

Following precedent in two similar cases in California, DOE's Office of Civil Rights informed District 211 in a not-yet-public decision that depriving the student of equal access to facilities violates Title IX’s sex nondiscrimination protections, calling such treatment "inadequate and discriminatory."

In response DIstrict 211 Superintendent Dan Cates has assumed the traditional position of standing in front the locker room door. Lester Maddox and George Wallace would be proud.

At a press conference, Superintendent Dan Cates insisted, "This is about matters of student privacy." Promising not to abide by OCR’s pending decision, he explained, "What they are asking us to do is have opposite sex students in the same open area of the locker room and that we do not do. This is a matter we take very seriously and this policy would undo that."

Translation: Dan Cates does not accept that a trans girl is a girl.

After serious and lengthy consideration, the District will continue to provide private accommodations for transgender students to ensure a respectful school environment, and will not allow unrestricted access to its locker rooms as directed by OCR.

--Office of the District

John Knight of the ACLU of Illinois, who represents the student, told ThinkProgress that she finds it incredibly “painful to be singled out.” Having to use the separate changing room has resulted in her being late for class on some occasions. “It sends a strong message to her,” he explained, "that she’s not like other students," describing her as feeling like a "pariah." A press release from the ACLU further described that “being separated from her classmates and teammates stigmatized the student and made her feel different.”

It is puzzling that the school district has decided to elevate its misguided interpretation of 'privacy' over the fundamental principle of non-discrimination. The school leadership’s decision is a poor reflection on the community they represent.

--Knight