What Will Become of Equal Protection for Women?

California has followed Massachusetts into uncharted territory by requiring California schools to make sex-segregated facilities and activities available to members of both sexes. Those who advocated this move might not like all of the implications of what they have accomplished. Among the many likely casualties of these laws will be the logic of the Supreme Court’s equal protection jurisprudence, which protects females from suspect classifications in law.

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Department of Education (MDOE) issued regulatory guidance for Massachusetts schools concerning a recent state statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity. MDOE interprets the statute to give students a right to use the bathroom, locker room, and changing facilities that correspond to the gender with which those students identify, regardless of their biological sex.

The MDOE directive notes that some students might be uncomfortable disrobing with a member of the opposite sex, but insists, “This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender student.”  (more...)

What Will Become of Equal Protection for Women?