Judge throws out $4 million award for transgender student

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A judge has thrown out a $4.2 million jury award in a lawsuit filed by a transgender student in the Blues Springs School District who was denied access to male locker rooms and bathrooms.

The student, identified in court documents as R.M.A., sued in 2015. A Jackson County jury found in December that the Blue Springs School District had discriminated against the student while he attended middle and high school.

He participated in male sports but was required to use separate unisex bathrooms.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Cory Atkins ruled last month R.M.A. had not proven his male sex was "a contributing factor" in the district's refusal to let him use male facilities, KCUR reported.

Atkins ruled the sole, uncontradicted evidence at the trial was the student was excluded from male facilities because of his female genitalia.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2019 the state's human rights laws against sex discrimination could be extended to those who don't conform to gender stereotypes, which was considered a significant decision for transgender rights at the time.