The Gavin Grimm legal case over which bathroom he should have been allowed use in school continues to rumble on with the latest ruling proving to be a positive one. A US judge has rejected the Gloucester County school board’s move to dismiss the case, stating that federal law protects Grimm’s right to use the bathroom which corresponds to his gender identity.

The case first came about in 2015 when Grimm was 15 years-old. At first he had been allowed to use the men’s bathroom following his transition but after several complaints the principal informed him he must use a newly installed single person bathroom.

Initially when the lawsuit was brought to court, a different judge had ruled in favour of the school board but  laws introduced by then President Obama protecting transgender rights meant Grimm’s lawsuit not only reached the US Supreme Court but the ruling in the school boards favour was overturned by the Court of Appeals. Following his election, Trump’s decision to reverse those protections on transgender rights had a huge impact on the case, as without them, the Supreme Court sent it back to the district courts.

The judge presiding over the latest ruling, Justice Arenda Wright Allen, stated the school board’s argument to dismiss the case was “resoundingly unpersuasive”. She continued, “The location of the bathrooms, coupled with the stigmatisation and physical and mental anguish inflicted upon Mr. Grimm, caused harm.” The saga isn’t over yet though, as the school board have 30 days to arrange a settlement conference.

In a statement released through his attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union, Gavin Grimm said, “After fighting this policy since I was 15 years old, I finally have a court decision saying that what the Gloucester County School Board did to me was wrong and it was against the law.” The statement continued, “I was determined not to give up because I didn’t want any other student to have to suffer the same experience that I had to go through.”