(Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

A Georgia school superintendent wrestling with which restroom should be used by transgender students was caught this week between warnings from his lawyers and angry parents.

At first, Pickens County school Superintendent Carlton Wilson sided with the lawyers telling him the law was on the side of transgender students using restrooms corresponding with their identified gender.

"I've been told by legal counsel, several different legal counsels, upon receiving a lawsuit, that we will lose that lawsuit, and it will cost anywhere from several thousand dollars up to a million dollars," Wilson told news media as seen in WXIA-TV coverage.

But when pushback against the policy escalated into threats of violence, Wilson reversed course Wednesday. The Associated Press reported school officials want to consult with police and others about how to guarantee safety, citing death threats, student harassment and vandalism.

The drama in Pickens County, about 60 miles north of Atlanta, shows the stakes and passions over this issue. Lawyers say the dispute will be settled for Georgia, Florida and Alabama by a case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. A panel in Atlanta will hear arguments in the case on Dec. 5.

At issue is Drew Adams, a Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, high school student who was born with female body parts but always insisted he is a boy. Adams had surgery and took other measures to change his appearance, and he had his birth certificate changed to list his gender as male.

St. Johns County school officials barred him from the boys' restroom, requiring him to use a unisex restroom, which he found demeaning and inconvenient. He claimed violations of the 14th Amendment's equal protection guarantees and sex discrimination under Title IX. Last year, Judge Timothy Corrigan of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled for Adams.

"When confronted with something affecting our children that is new, outside of our experience, and contrary to gender norms we thought we understood, it is natural that parents want to protect their children," Corrigan wrote. "But the evidence is that Drew Adams poses no threat to the privacy or safety of any of his fellow students. Rather, Drew Adams is just like every other student at Nease High School, a teenager coming of age in a complicated, uncertain and changing world. When it comes to his use of the bathroom, the law requires that he be treated like any other boy."

The school district appealed, and briefs from both sides focus on a 2011 decision of the Eleventh Circuit that Corrigan cited as authority throughout his ruling. In that case, Glenn v. Brumby, 663 F.3d 1312, the court ruled a transgender staffer fired by the Georgia Legislative Counsel was the victim of illegal sex discrimination.

That decision was remarkable for two reasons. The panel decided it less than a week after oral arguments, while most decisions take months. Also, one of the panel members who joined the unanimous decision was Judge William Pryor, whose confirmation was opposed by advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, based on anti-gay rights positions he took as Alabama's attorney general.

Lawyers for the school district argue the lower court decision "robs the people of St. Johns County of the most important liberty asserted in the Declaration of Independence: the right to govern themselves. When terms such as equal protection are vague, it is not for courts to substitute their view on the matters in place of the electorate, especially when tradition and history (and even Supreme Court precedent recognizing the validity of sex-based distinctions based on biological differences between the genders), dictate otherwise."

They maintain Corrigan and other judges around the country have applied the Glenn decision too broadly. "This case presents an opportunity for this Court to clearly define what constitutes impermissible sex discrimination and clarify its holding in Glenn. Binding precedent, the separation of powers, and the text of the Constitution and Title IX counsel against these courts' widespread overextension," wrote Terry Harmon and colleagues at Sniffen & Spellman in Tallahassee.

Adams' lawyers responded that Glenn is the Eleventh Circuit's "leading, foundational authority holding that discrimination against individuals because they are transgender is sex discrimination."

Glenn Brock.( Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Longtime school lawyer Glenn Brock of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough said schools have been dealing with transgender students for years. He noted some schools work with transgender students and their parents to develop a plan for handling these issues, and that practice often works well.

"Federal authority is very much in favor" of transgender students using restrooms that match their identified gender, he said. "My belief is the Eleventh Circuit will uphold" the district judge.

Gregory Jay (Photo: Zachary Porter/ALM)

Another school lawyer, Gregory Jay of Chandler, Britt & Jay in Buford, said he's heard school administrators say "their students are typically tolerant and supportive of a fellow transgender student, and bathroom use is handled in a mature manner, absent any issues."

He noted, "Parents or the media is often the driver of the controversy."

In Pickens County, school board chairman Tucker Green referred the Daily Report's inquiries about its legal counsel and cost concerns to the superintendent, Wilson. He did not respond by deadline to a call and an email seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for St. Johns County school officials said its insurer was paying for the litigation, so the Adams case has not cost taxpayers anything. Harmon, its lead lawyer, did not respond to a call asking about the firm's bills.

Tara Borelli. (Courtesy photo)

One of Adams' lawyers, Tara Borelli of the nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal in Atlanta, pointed to a Wisconsin case where a school district last year paid $800,000 to settle claims from a transgender boy. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the boy said the school banned him from boys' restrooms, monitored his restroom use, referred to him by female pronouns in front of other students, forced him to room alone on a weeklong orchestra trip and initially refused to allow him to run for prom king.

"Discrimination is expensive," Borelli said.

Related coverage:

Where Gorsuch Sees Ambiguity, Kagan Sees Clarity in LGBT Rights Case

Judge Wants to Pause NJ Transgender Discrimination Case Until SCOTUS Rules