CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia's transgender sports ban violates teen athletes' rights under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools, an appeals court says. handed down the verdict on Tuesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled 2-1 that the law does not apply to 13-year-old girls who have been taking puberty-blocking drugs since third grade and who are publicly identified as girls. handed down the verdict.
In February 2023, a court blocked the state's proposal to ban Becky Pepper Jackson from her middle school cross country and track and field teams if the law went into effect.
Judge Toby Hatens wrote that giving her the “choice” of not participating in the sport or only joining the men's team was “not at all a realistic option”.
“The defendants have committed BPJ to her social transition, treatment, and all the work she has done with schools, teachers, and coaches for almost half of her life, to her teammates, coaches, and even opponents. You can’t expect to cancel by introducing yourself, kid,” Hatens wrote.
The court ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, its West Virginia chapter, and LGBTQ interest group Lambda Legal. Republican Gov. Jim Justice sued the state, county school boards and superintendents in 2021 after signing the bill.
“This is a huge victory for our transgender West Virginian clients and the freedom for all young people to play as their true selves,” ACLU of West Virginia attorney Joshua Block said in a statement. ” he said.
The court noted that Jackson had been living as a woman for more than five years and had changed her name, and the state of West Virginia issued her a birth certificate that listed her as female. The court heard she was receiving puberty blockers and estrogen hormone therapy. Since she was in elementary school, she has only participated in girls' athletic clubs.
BPJ said applying this behavior to her would treat her worse than people in similar circumstances, deprive her of meaningful exercise opportunities, and do so on the basis of sex. That is all Title IX requires,” Hatens wrote.
Although the ruling makes clear that the law is discriminatory, ACLU-West Virginia spokesperson Billy Wolf said in a statement, “To the best of our knowledge, there are no children currently affected by this law. is our client only.” If others find themselves in this situation, we encourage them to contact the ACLU-WV legal team. ”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey, a Republican, said he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision. His office said the ban would remain in place, except in certain cases decided on Tuesday.
“I will continue to fight to protect Title IX. We must continue to protect women's sports so that women are safe and girls have a truly level playing field. No,” Morrissey said. “We know the law is right, and we will do everything we can to uphold it.”
In January 2023, a federal judge revoked a preliminary injunction granted in July 2021. The judge also ruled that the state's transgender law does not violate Title IX.
The appeals court ruled that government officials were prohibited from establishing separate sports teams for boys and girls, or that they lacked the authority to enforce the boundaries drawn between those teams. It was pointed out that it was not approved.
“We also know that Title IX requires schools to allow all transgender girls to play on girls' teams, regardless of whether they have passed puberty and experienced increased levels of circulating testosterone. ,” the court wrote. “We find only that the district court erred in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment in this particular case and not granting summary judgment to BPJ on her specific Title IX claims.'' .”
Dissenting Judge G. Stephen Agee wrote that states could separate teams by sex assigned at birth “without violating either the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX.”
Participation in sports has been one of the major fronts in recent legislative and legal battles over the role of transgender people in U.S. public life. Most Republican-controlled states have passed participation restrictions and bans on gender-affirming health care for minors. Some schools, in particular, are restricting the bathrooms and locker rooms that transgender people can use.
West Virginia is one of at least 24 states with laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in certain women's or girls' sports competitions.
The ban applies to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, It is being implemented in South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
In addition to West Virginia, judges have temporarily put the bans on hold in Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. But the Second Circuit last year revived a challenge to Connecticut's policy to allow transgender girls to compete in girls' sports, sending the case back to a lower court without ruling on its merits.
In a related case, an Ohio judge on Tuesday suspended enforcement of a state law that bans gender-affirming care for minors and bars transgender girls from participating in girls' school sports. handed down the verdict. The law was scheduled to take effect on April 24, but has now been delayed for two weeks, or until a public hearing is held. Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook said in his opinion that the state law likely violates the single-subject requirement.
The Biden administration initially planned to announce new federal Title IX regulations that would address both sexual assault and transgender athletes on campus. Earlier this year, the ministry decided to split them into separate rules, but the rules for athletics currently remain vague.
___
This article has been corrected to say the court found the ban discriminated against teenage athletes, but did not overturn it.
___
Associated Press writers Dennis Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia, and Jeff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
