A judge granted a temporary restraining order Oct. 25 against the enforcement of Magnolia ISD's gender-based hair length policy, which states boys' hair length must not be longer than the top of a dress shirt collar, according to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The ruling also allows students who had been removed from regular in-person classes through in-school suspension or the district's Disciplinary Alternative Education Program to return to school without fear of discipline, according to the release.

The ACLU of Texas and ACLU Women's Rights Project sued the district Oct. 21 on behalf of seven students affected by the policy, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported. The lawsuit, filed in the Houston Division of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, requested the temporary restraining order as well as a permanent injunction to stop the district from enforcing the policy.



“Students and parents in Magnolia ISD can breathe a sigh of relief that the district’s harmful and discriminatory hair policy will stop being enforced against them. Our plaintiffs can now return to school as this unjust policy is paused by the court," ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer said in the oct. 25 release. "The district should never have violated these students’ constitutional rights in the first place or forced them to conform to gender stereotypes."

The court granted the order because there is a "substantial likelihood of success" that the district's policy is subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the policy is "substantially likely" to violate Title IX, according to a court document. The temporary restraining is in effect until the conclusion of the preliminary injunction hearing on Nov. 10.

Magnolia ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.