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Appeals Court Refuses To Rehear Transgender Restroom Case

A federal appeals court won't reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that a transgender teen must be allowed to use the boys' restroom at school. The case has implications for the fate of North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia denied the Gloucester County School Board's appeal on Tuesday.

The school board had asked for a full-court review after a three-judge panel said schools are bound by Department of Education guidelines, which say students must be allowed to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

The Justice Department cited the original ruling in its lawsuit calling out North Carolina's HB2, which requires transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.

Governor Pat McCrory issued a statement in response to this latest ruling, saying that schools should be allowed to set their own bathroom policies. McCrory is calling on Congress to clarify the scope of federal anti-discrimination laws.  

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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