RICHMOND, Va. – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Gloucester school district can prohibit a transgender teen from using the boy’s bathroom while the student’s discrimination case proceeds.

Justices issued a 5-3 decision to lift a requirement imposed by a lower court to accommodate the biologically female student Gavin Grimm’s request to use the boy’s bathroom, Politico reports.

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Grimm identifies as a male, and argues federal Title IX laws prohibit the district from “discriminating” against him based on gender identity.

The district initially allowed him to use the boys’ restroom at school but changed course amid public outcry in December 2014 and restricted students to facilities corresponding to their biological gender. The district offered Grimm a private unisex restroom, which he refused.

Grimm sued the district with help from the American Civil Liberties Union and a U.S. District Court initially sided with the district. Grimm appealed the ruling and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit disagreed with the district court ruling, reinstated Grimm’s claim in April and returned the case to the lower court.

In June, the district court granted a preliminary injunction that allows Grimm to use the boys’ facilities for the upcoming school year as his case continues through the legal system, EAGnews reports.

Grimm’s case relies on the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX – which the president laid out in letters to all schools – that policies based on biological gender are discriminatory against transgender students and violate the law.

According to Politico:

Justice Stephen Breyer joined with the (Supreme Court’s) four GOP appointees to lift—for now—the obligation of the Gloucester County school system to allow Grimm to use the bathroom of his choice in accordance with Obama Administration guidance.

In a statement accompanying the order, Breyer said he was agreeing to the stay as a “courtesy” because the court is in recess and putting the ruling on hold “will preserve the status quo.” The three other Democratic appointees opposed the stay.

However, since only four justices are needed to grant review in a case, the fact that the four Republican appointees favored the stay sought by the school district is a strong sign the high court will agree to take up the case this fall.

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“The school board welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision as the new school year approaches,” the Gloucester County School Board said in a news release quoted by WTVD. “The board continues to believe that its resolution of this complex matter fully considered the interests of all students and parents.”

The transgender bathroom debate is the subject of lawsuits by numerous states against the Obama administration objecting to the president’s Title IX decree, and if the Supreme Court takes up Grimm’s case, an outcome could have implications on numerous other pending lawsuits.

The North Carolina Values Coalition believes a resolution on the transgender bathroom issue could also impact a relatively new state law, HB2, that requires public entities to base access on biological gender. The federal government is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with North Carolina over HB2.

“It’s just common sense that a student who has female anatomy does not belong in the boys’ bathroom,” Tami Fitzgerald, NCVC Executive Director said in a statement. “It violates the constitutionally protected right of privacy of all the other students. We believe this ruling will have implications for North Carolina’s HB2, because this means that the Virginia case can no longer be cited as authority for the DOJ’s radical new interpretation of Title IX.

“Nor can the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System and the UNC System continue their lawless refusal to enforce state law, citing the stayed Virginia decision. Parents in Charlotte have a reason now to demand that CMS back down on implementing its new transgender policy that would allow boys and girls to share bathrooms, showers, locker rooms, and even overnight sleeping facilities in public schools,” Fitzgerald added.

The ACLU, of course, was bummed out by the decision, and alleged that Grimm, now an incoming senior, “will have to begin another school year isolated from his peers and stigmatized by the Gloucester County school board just because he’s a boy who is transgender,” lawyer Joshua Block said.

Francisco Negron, attorney for the National School Boards Association, told Politico that the organization, and schools across the country, are eager to resolve the transgender issue and clarify their legal obligations under Title IX.

“A quick court resolution would be a welcome thing,” he said.

The school district appealed the case to the Supreme Court in July with the hopes of a resolution before the upcoming school year, though it’s unclear if, or when, the high court might consider the case.