A transgender teen from Wisconsin has won an $800,000 settlement after he said his school district discriminated against him.
According to Kenosha News, Ash Whitaker now a college student, won an $800,000 settlement after filing a lawsuit against the Kenosha Unified School Board in 2016 alleging that school officials discriminated against him because he was transgender.
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In the lawsuit, Whitaker, a former student of Tremper High School, said that school administrators monitored his trips to the boys’ bathroom and made him wear wristbands to single him out. The district denied the allegations.
“I am deeply relieved that this long, traumatic part of my life is finally over and I can focus on my future and simply being a college student,” Whitaker said in a statement through his attorneys. “Winning this case was so empowering and made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youths live authentically. My message to other trans kids is to respect themselves and accept themselves and love themselves. If someone’s telling you that you don’t deserve that, prove them wrong.”
The settlement will withdraw the school district’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asking that it overturn a ruling that had allowed Whitaker to use male-only restrooms at the high school. The settlement also permits Whitaker to use the men’s restroom whenever he returns to the Kenosha Unified campus.
Whitaker is now attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he plans to major in biomedical engineering.
