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Colorado transgender girl Coy Mathis wins civil rights case to use girl’s bathroom

Colorado transgender girl Coy Mathis wins civil rights case to use girl’s bathroom

A six-year-old transgender girl has won the right to use the girl's bathroom at her elementary school in Fountain, Colorado.

In a historic U.S. civil rights case setting legal precedent for the state of Colorado, the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled that a state school district violated law which protects transgender people when it denied the six-year-old access to the girl's bathroom, reports Reuters.

"This is amazing because it is not just a win for Coy, but a win for every transgender child in the entire state," her mother, Kathryn Mathis, tells ABC. "It lets them be who they are. They don't have to spend their childhood being discriminated against."

Also see: School board refuses to call transgender student’s male name at graduation

Coy Mathis was born a boy, but at 18 months she was exhibiting behaviour that was later assessed by a specialist who deemed Coy to be transgender.

As a kindergartener at Eagleside Elementary School, she started using the girl's bathroom, dressed as a girl, and her teachers and classmates used female pronouns to refer to her.

“The change in Coy after she transitioned at school was just amazing,” Mathis tells Yahoo! Shine. “The anxiety went away, the depression went away."

But just this past December, while Coy was in Grade 1, the school reversed its decision and told Coy's parents the girl had to either use the boy's bathroom, the nurse's office bathroom, or the teacher's bathroom.

Also see: Transgender teen told he can’t run for prom king, only prom queen

Her parents immediately withdrew her from school and started homeschooling her while they filled a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. Their lawyers were from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fun.

Kathryn said at the time, “We’re really just trying to make it known what the school has done and make them accountable.”

But William Kelly Dude, the lawyer for the school district, told Yahoo! Shine that the school, "firmly believes it has acted reasonably and fairly with respect to this issue."

The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination against transgender students in public schools. And the state is just one of 16 states with similar laws, reports Reuters.

Also see: Private women’s university in U.S. rejects transgender applicant

The issue of transgender students and their challenges navigating school life has been a hot topic as of late, readily making news both in Canada and abroad, as school boards struggle to accommodate the specific needs of these students.

Last November, a transgender teen boy from in Clarington, Ont. was told he couldn't use the boys' bathroom despite having half of the students at his high school sign a petition in favour of it.

And just this past April, a transgender teen girl from Nova Scotia faced suspension at her rural high school in Milford Station for using the girls' bathroom.

What are your thoughts on the best way to accommodate transgender students in schools?