GLOUCESTER COURTHOUSE, Va. – Transgender student Gavin Grimm – a female that identifies as a male – cannot use the male restroom while his lawsuit against the school district continues through the court system, a judge said.

Grimm, a 16-year-old junior at Gloucester High School, was allowed to use the boy’s facilities at the school until parents complained and the school board changed its restroom policy in December 2014. Grimm sued Gloucester County Public Schools with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union alleging the new policy – which restricts Grimm to three unisex bathrooms or the female facilities on campus – violates his constitutional rights, the Daily Press reports.

Grimm and the ACLU sought a preliminary injunction to force Gloucester schools to allow Grimm to use the male facilities, but U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar denied the request, though he did not yet publish his written opinion on the injunction.

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“A hearing on the injunction was held in Norfolk on July 27,” the Daily Press reports. “At the time, Doumar dismissed the Title IX discrimination claims in the lawsuit, saying that federal law allows schools to separate restrooms based on sex.”

The U.S. Department of Education disagrees, and sent a “statement of interest” to the court to advocate on Grimm’s behalf. The document, submitted in June, alleges the school’s restroom policy violated Title IX anti-discrimination protections, according to media reports.

Attorneys with the school district have argued the is not discriminating against Grimm because it’s treating all students the same, and because transgender is not a protected class under the Constitution, WHSV reports.

“All students have equal comparable restroom facilities,” CGSB attorney David Corrigan said. “He is not being treated differently.”

The ACLU, of course, has vowed to appeal Doumar’s decision immediately.

“As a result of the decision, Gavin will have to start the school year under a demeaning and stigmatizing policy that relegates him to separate restrooms from his peers,” ACLU attorney Joshua Block told the Daily Press on Sept. 4. “We expect today’s decision to be reversed on appeal.”

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Grimm wants the court to rule his school’s restroom policy unconstitutional, and is seeking monetary damages. That’s never happened before on the federal level.

“If the judge rules in Grimm’s favor, it will be the first time a federal court has said that restricting a transgender student’s restroom use is discriminatory,” according to the new site.

Doumar seems most concerned the precedence the case could set, and repeatedly told Block he’s fighting an “uphill battle.”

“What happens where is a question of precedence,” Doumar said at a July hearing. “I worry about precedence. If we cut out the (policy), does it mean anyone who genuinely believes they are of the opposite sex can use any restroom?”

That’s exactly the same reason the ACLU is so interested in the case.

“Gavin’s case has the potential to advance the rights of all transgender students in Virginia, and we are so proud to stand with him,” Virginia ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg told the International Business Times.

Doumar is expected to issue a written opinion on his denial of the preliminary injunction soon, and the school district will have 21 days to file an answer to the lawsuit before a trial date is set.