A transgender first grader has won her bias complaint against a Colorado school district.

The Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled in favor of six-year-old Coy Mathis, saying in a sharply worded ruling that Fountain-Fort Carson School District discriminated against Coy when it refused to allow her to use the girls' bathroom.

“Schools should not discriminate against their students, and we are thrilled that Coy can return to school and put this behind her,” said Kathryn Mathis, Coy's mother. “All we ever wanted was for Coy's school to treat her the same as other little girls. We are extremely happy that she now will be treated equally.”

Division director Steven Chavez wrote in the decision that not allowing Coy access to the bathroom she identified with was “severe and pervasive treatment” which “creates an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating and offensive.”

Last December, Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis were told that their daughter Coy could no longer use the girls' bathroom that she had been using for the past year at Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain. Coy was told she could use the nurse's bathroom, a staff bathroom used by adults, or the boys' bathroom.

The Mathises pulled Coy from school and filed their complaint in February.

Michael D. Silverman, the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed the complaint on behalf of the Mathises, applauded the decision.

“This ruling sends a loud and clear message that transgender students may not be targeted for discrimination and that they must be treated equally in school,” Silverman said. “It is a victory for Coy and a triumph for fairness.”