Apple Lends Support to Transgender Student’s Supreme Court Case

Apple has lent their support to a transgender student’s fight against his school district over which restroom he may use.

Cupertino signed on to a Supreme Court brief in support of the Virginia student, Gavin Grimm, in his case against the Gloucester County School Board. The brief, which is due to be filed March 2 by the Human Rights Campaign, has already seen support by over 53 companies — many of them in the tech industry. They include Amazon, PayPal, IBM, Apple, Twitter and Microsoft, as well as non-tech businesses such as MAC Cosmetics and Gap, according to the New York Times.

“These companies are sending a powerful message to transgender children and their families that America’s leading businesses have their backs,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin wrote in a statement.

Grimm is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in his case. The Human Rights Campaign is urging the Supreme Court to rule in favor of Grimm, which could ultimately decide the bathroom issue across the country. Oral arguments for the case are slated to take place at the end of the month, the NYT reported. The case comes in the midst of increased public attention and scrutiny concerning the rights of transgender students.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has lent its support to transgender issues. In March 2016, Apple CEO Tim Cook joined more than 80 executives who petitioned for lawmakers in North Carolina to repeal a law that forced transgender students to use restrooms “inconsistent with their gender identity.” Similarly, just last week, Apple spoke out against the Trump administration’s decision to rescind protections for transgender students.

“Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination,” Apple wrote in a statement concerning the Trump decision. “We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals. We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.”

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