Women Should Speak For Women: WoLF Intervenes to Protect Single-Sex Spaces in Federal Buildings
If a lawsuit seeks to eliminate women's sex-separated bathrooms in federal buildings, shouldn't at least one woman be allowed to defend them?
When a lawsuit threatens women's rights, someone should be allowed to defend them.
That simple principle is at the heart of WoLF's newest legal filing in Withrow v. United States, where we are asking the court to allow a female federal employee to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to eliminate sex-separated bathrooms in federal buildings.
The plaintiff argues that requiring employees to use the restroom corresponding to their biological sex is unlawful. If successful, the lawsuit could require women to share workplace bathrooms with men in federal office buildings across the country.
Yet despite the profound impact such a ruling would have on millions of women, no woman is currently before the court to defend her own interests.
WoLF intends to change that.
Why Intervention Matters
Ordinarily, when a law or government policy is challenged, the government defends it. But governments change. Administrations change. Litigation strategies change.
Women's need for privacy, safety, and dignity does not.
WoLF has been following this case since it was first filed, and recognized immediately the need for women to be heard.
That is why WoLF has asked the court to allow our proposed intervenor - a longtime federal employee - to participate directly in the case. She is not seeking to speak for the government. She is seeking to speak for herself and for other women whose rights are directly affected. As our motion explains, a change in administration could alter the government's position, but "the interests of Jane Doe and women like her in safety, privacy, and dignity will remain."
Intervention will ensure that the court hears arguments that otherwise risk being overlooked: the importance of women's privacy, the purpose of sex-separated facilities, and the real-world consequences of redefining "sex" to mean "gender identity." The current government filings address these issues only briefly, while our proposed intervenor can present the perspective of the women who actually use these spaces every day.
Meet "Jane Doe"
Our proposed intervenor has served the Department of the Army for nearly two decades. She has worked in the Pentagon and other federal facilities, and comes from a family with a long history of military service. Her husband currently serves on active duty, and she regularly visits federal buildings and military installations.
She values her career deeply. She also values something many people take for granted: knowing that when she enters a women's restroom in a federal building, it is a space reserved for women.
Her concerns are not abstract.
She explains that she is a survivor of sexual assault and that the prospect of encountering men in women's restrooms causes her significant anxiety. She recounts searching multiple floors of a university building because the women's restroom had been converted into an "all gender" facility. This stressful experience left her feeling she had no safe place to meet a basic human need.
She believes women deserve privacy in spaces where they are especially vulnerable. So do we.
Read her affidavit in support of the motion to intervene here.
Why She Seeks to Remain Anonymous
Standing up for women's rights has become increasingly difficult.
Women who publicly object to the elimination of sex-separated spaces often face harassment, professional consequences, and threats to their personal safety. Our proposed intervenor wishes to continue serving her country while also defending the rights of women who work in federal buildings.
For that reason, WoLF has asked the court to allow her to proceed under the pseudonym Jane Doe. She explains why this is necessary in her affidavit supporting the motion to proceed anonymously here.
Seeking anonymity is a reflection of today's reality. Women should not have to choose between defending their civil rights and protecting their careers, families, and personal safety.
Even so, Jane Doe understands there is no guarantee the court will grant that request. She is willing to move forward because she believes the issue is too important to ignore.
That courage deserves recognition.
Women Deserve a Voice
Throughout our litigation, one theme has emerged repeatedly: courts are often asked to decide cases affecting women's sex-based rights without hearing directly from women whose interests are at stake. Beginning earlier this month, following an admission by both parties in Doe v. Blanche that neither one was representing the interest of federal women prisoners, WoLF sponsored an intervention effort giving several of them a voice in that case. WoLF has filed an appeal of the dismissal of Chandler v. Macomber, in which the court wrongly held that women lacked standing to advocate for their own safety and privacy in California prisons.
WoLF is proud to represent Jane Doe in the effort to fight for women to have a seat at the table when courts consider whether sex-separated spaces will continue to exist.
WoLF’s legal advocacy is powered not only by our donors, but also by extraordinary voluntary attorneys who generously donate their time and expertise. We are especially grateful to Board Treasurer Nancy Stade, who has undertaken the considerable task of serving as counsel on this motion. Nancy, along with Board President Elspeth Cypher and another volunteer attorney (who must remain anonymous), devoted substantial pro bono time researching, drafting, and preparing these filings.
Their work exemplifies the commitment and expertise that WoLF brings to defending women's sex-based rights in courts across the country.
If you believe women deserve privacy, dignity, and equal protection under the law, please consider supporting WoLF's legal advocacy through a charitable donation. Interested volunteers can also reach out to legaldirector@womensliberationfront.org. Your support helps ensure that women's voices are heard in the courts where these important decisions are made.