On May 27, the Maine Superior Court, Androscoggin County, ruled on a case involving a claim of unlawful public accommodation discrimination by a transgender person.dennys-breakfast.jpg
In this case, the public accommodation involved was the bathroom of a Denny's restaurant in Auburn, Maine.
In Freeman v. Realty Resources Hospitality, LLC, d/b/a Denny's of Auburn, No. CV 09-199, the Maine Superior Court held, in a fairly simple decision, that, if it were true that the manager prohibited the plaintiff from using the women's bathroom based on her gender identity, then that would be a violation of the Maine Human Rights Act.
It is, as far as I know, the first judicial decision in the U.S. on a claim of transgender public accommodation discrimination involving bathroom use. In the two previous bathroom use cases, one involved an employment discrimination claim based on bathroom rules, and the other involved a rental discrimination claim based on bathroom rules. I think the difference may be important, for those two cases denied the discrimination claims based on truly illogical reasoning.
The holding of the Maine court seems a straightforward enough proposition. However, this is the only standing decision in the country to correctly interpret the law. For that reason, this is a huge big deal.
Read more: Maine Court Favorable Ruling on Trans Bathroom Use | The Bilerico Project
