The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is seeking to join a lawsuit accusing the Anoka-Hennepin School District of discriminating against a transgender teen.
Attorney General Keith Ellison is representing the agency.
The lawsuit filed by the student's mother last month in Anoka County District Court alleges the district discriminated against the teen — a member of the Coon Rapids High swim team — by not allowing him to use the boys' locker room.
"School districts should have policies and procedures that enable all students to thrive, free from discrimination," Irina Vaynerman, the Human Rights Department's deputy commissioner, said in a news release Tuesday.
"We stand proudly with transgender and gender nonconforming students across the state."
The district responded by citing a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that it says found that the state's human rights act "neither requires nor prohibits restroom designation according to self-image of gender or according to biological gender."
