Apple has joined 52 other firms in signing a Supreme Court brief in support of a young transgender man’s fight with his local school board for the right to use the restroom corresponding to his gender identity.
The businesses, 53 in all, joined a brief that the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit organization supporting gay rights, planned to file on Thursday. The advocacy group is urging the Supreme Court to side with Gavin Grimm, a transgender student represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, in his case against the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia.
In addition to Apple, other tech companies signing the brief include Airbnb, Amazon, eBay, IBM, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, Tumblr, Twitter, Yahoo, Yelp, and more. Companies not in the tech field that have signed the brief, including GAP, Warby Parker, Williams-Sonoma, and MAC Cosmetics.
“These companies are sending a powerful message to transgender children and their families that America’s leading businesses have their backs,” Chad Griffin, the Human Rights Campaign’s president, said in a statement announcing the support.
Oral arguments in the case are set for the end of the month, and as such it will take place in the heat of the battle as the rights of transgendered youths are debated nationwide. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order rescinding rules the Obama administration had put into place less than a year ago allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
