Page:Adams ex rel. Kasper v. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida (2018).pdf/25

 summer of 2015, before Adams began high school at Nease, Adams’ mother informed the student services department that Adams was transitioning and would be attending high school as a boy. Doc. 160-1 at Tr. 251–52. When Adams began school in August, he presented as a boy and used the boys’ restroom when needed without incident. at Tr. 253. One day in September approximately six weeks after school started, Adams was called out from his classroom and told by his guidance counselor that someone had complained about him using the boys’ restroom and that, going forward, he could use the gender-neutral bathroom in the school office. at Tr. 114–15, 253. Adams was also advised that he could use the girls’ restroom, something he found insulting. at Tr. 117–18. It was not a boy or a boy’s parents who had complained. Rather, it was two unidentified female students who reported that they had seen Adams entering the boys’ restroom. Doc. 162 at Tr. 16–17.

To Adams, the school’s refusal to let him use the boys’ restroom meant that the school did not see him as a boy, and refused to accept who he was. Doc. 160-1 at Tr. 116. As Adams testified, “I was living in every aspect of my life as a boy and now they’re taking that away from me.” Adams said he was confused, shocked, and angered by the school’s reaction. at Tr. 115–16. The school agreed to provide gender-neutral restrooms which Adams has used as necessary. at Tr. 172–73. Adams would be subject to disciplinary action if he used the boys’ bathroom. Doc. 162 at Tr. 17–18. Over the course of Adams’ freshman and sophomore years, Adams’