Coy Mathis is a 6-year-old first grader who identifies herself as a girl but was born with a boy’s body. Recently the Fountain-Fort Carson School District informed Coy’s parents that Coy would no longer be allowed to use the girls’ restroom at school.

Coy Mathis is a triplet who has lived as if she were a girl since she was 18 months of age. By age 4, Coy was telling her mother that she felt as if something were wrong with her body. Coy is diagnosed with gender identity disorder and her doctors recommend that she live as a girl. Since kindergarten Coy has presented as a female and has been using the restrooms designated as girls’ restrooms.

After the decision by the school district not allowing Coy to use the girl’s restroom, Coy’s parents with the assistance of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), filed a discrimination complaint in Colorado on Coy’s behalf. Attorney Michael Silverman of the TLDEF stated that, “For many transgender people, discrimination is a daily part of life,” and the complaint is “a test of Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act.”

In making its decision not allowing Coy to use the girls’ restroom at school, the district “took into account not only Coy but the other students in the building, their parents and the future impact a boy with male genitals using a girls’ bathroom would have as Coy grew older.”

The Fountain-Fort Carson School District is concerned about the possible uncomfortable feelings some students may have if Coy continues to use the girls’ bathroom as her male genitals develop. This concern raises the argument by the TLDEF that by allowing Coy to use the girls’ restroom, the school can send a message to the world and teach fair play, tolerance, and equal rights.