November 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 34

L AW R E V I E W

Gender Identity
In the case of Johnston v. University of Pittsburgh, 2015 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 41823 (Dist.W.D. Penna.
3/31/2015), plaintiff Seamus Johnston alleged the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ) " discriminated against him based on his sex
and his transgender status by prohibiting him from using sex-segregated locker rooms and restrooms that
were designated for men. "

the Selective Service. He amended the
gender marker to male on his United
States passport. In November 2013,
Johnston amended the gender marker
to male in his Social Security record.
Johnston attended UPJ as an undergraduate computer science major
for five semesters from 2009 to 2011.
When Johnston applied for admission to UPJ in March 2009, he listed
his sex as " female " on his application form. However, when Johnston

Agencies are encouraged to provide unisex, singleuser restrooms when feasible to maximize comfort
and access for everyone, including individuals with
disabilities and those with young children; however,
transgender employees should not be limited to
using these facilites.
Johnston was born a female, but
identifies as a transgender male. Although Johnston " was assigned the
sex of female at birth, " he claimed he
is " legally, socially and medically recognized as a man. " Johnston stated
he " understood his male gender identity at a very early age, informing his
parents that he was a boy at age 9. "
In May 2009, Johnston transitioned
to living in accordance with his male
gender identity and began presenting
himself as a male in all aspects of life.
Beginning in 2009, as part of Johnston's transition to living as a male,
he " amended his identity documents
and records to reflect his male gender identity. " In 2010, he obtained a
common law name change to Seamus Johnston. In October 2011, he
amended the gender marker to male
on his Pennsylvania driver's license.
In July 2011, Johnston registered with
32 Parks & Recreation

began attending classes at UPJ in
August 2009, and at all times thereafter, he " consistently lived as male. "
In August 2011, Johnston requested
that UPJ change the gender marker
to male in his school records.
Men's Locker Room
While enrolled as a student at UPJ,
Johnston consistently used the men's
restrooms on campus. During the
spring 2011 semester, he enrolled in
a men's weight training class, which
was attended only by men. Johnston used the men's locker room
for the men's weight training class
throughout the spring 2011 semester.
He again enrolled in a men's weight
training class for the fall 2011 semester, and again began using the
men's locker room. Johnston used
the locker room approximately five
times between the end of August and

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mid-September without incident.
On September 19, 2011, Johnston
met with the executive director of
health and wellness services at UPJ
who informed Johnston that he could
no longer use the men's locker room.
Instead, Johnston agreed to use a unisex locker room at the sports center
that was normally reserved for referees.
On September 26, 2011, the UPJ
vice president of student affairs informed Johnston that " he would be
allowed to use the men's locker room
if his student records were updated
from female to male. " On September
29, 2011, the UPJ registrar informed
Johnston that, in order to change
the sex designation on his student
records, he had to provide either a
court order or a new birth certificate
reflecting his current gender.
On October 19, 2011, Johnston registered a complaint with the university
president to protest his exclusion from
the men's locker room. The university
president responded with a letter dated
October 21, 2011, confirming that, in
order for Johnston to have access to the
men's locker room, he must officially
change his gender in UPJ's records by
presenting a court order or birth certificate. In October 2011, Johnston began
reusing the men's locker room, using
the locker room six times between
October 24, 2011, and November 14,
2011, without incident.
On November 16, 2011, the campus
police issued a citation to Johnston for
disorderly conduct because he used the
men's locker room. Despite receiving
this citation, Johnston continued to use
the men's locker room. On November
21, 2011, Johnston received a second
citation for disorderly conduct for using the men's locker room. During this
confrontation, the campus police chief
informed Johnston that if he continued
to use the men's locker room, he would

November 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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