Page:Adams ex rel. Kasper v. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida (2022).pdf/140

 heightened scrutiny. For this reason, too, I would affirm the district court on Adams’s equal protection claim.

C.Adams’s Exclusion from the Boys’ Restroom Under the Bathroom Policy Violated Title IX.

I turn now to Adams’s Title IX claim. Title IX provides: “No person … shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). There is no dispute that the use of school restrooms constitutes an “educational program or activity” and that the School District receives federal funding as required by Title IX. Therefore, Adams must show only that he was subjected to “discrimination” “on the basis of sex” to succeed on his Title IX claim. Id.

I begin with discrimination. Discrimination “refers to distinctions or differences in treatment that injure protected individuals.” ''Burlington N. Santa Fe. Ry. Co. v. White'', 548 U.S. 53, 59 (2006). To determine what it means to “discriminate” under Title IX, we look to the relevant implementing regulations, which