As a standoff unfolds over a North Carolina law requiring people to use public restrooms that correspond with the gender on their birth certificates, the matter of transgender rights could easily find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Professor David S. Cohen said in Politico.

The U.S. Department of Justice has already signaled the administration’s aim of protecting transgendered students’ rights under Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, the May 6 article noted.

The administration is expected to issue guidance regarding Title IX that would deepen animosities between the federal government and North Carolina, which have already filed competing lawsuits against each other over the so-called bathroom bill.  

With states enacting a hodge-podge of laws that affect transgendered people and federal courts offering diverse interpretations of the rights afforded under Title IX, Cohen said the Supreme Court will likely take note.

“With same-sex marriage, it was such a pressing issue, with so many states doing different things,” Cohen said. “We’re not quite there yet, in terms of pressure on the Supreme Court with respect to transgender rights, but it’s very possible we could get there.”

An authority on gender and the law, Cohen’s scholarly writings on the topic have appeared in publications that include the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, the Indiana Law Journal and the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.