CHARLESTON, W. Va. —
An appeals court ruled on Tuesday that West Virginia’s transgender sports ban violates a teen athlete’s rights under Title IX, a federal civil rights law that forbids sex-based discrimination in schools.
The 4th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a 13-year-old who has been taking puberty-blocking medication and who has been identified as a girl has been subject to legal treatment since she was in the third grade.
If the law were to be upheld, the court had blocked the state’s request in February 2023 to remove Becky Pepper Jackson from her middle school cross-country and track and field teams.
There is no real choice between giving her the option to play basketball or join a boys’ team, according to Judge Toby Heytens. ”
The defendants can’t reasonably anticipate that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers, and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches, and even opponents as a boy,” Heytens wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union, its West Virginia chapter, and the LGBTQ rights organization Lambda Legal received favorable rulings from the court. In 2021, they sued the state, the county boards of education, and their superintendents. The bill was signed into law by Justice.
This is a significant victory for transgender West Virginians and the right of all youth to play as they are, according to ACLU West Virginia attorney Joshua Block in a statement.
The court noted that Jackson has changed her name and lived as a girl for more than five years, and her birth certificate states that she is a woman. She is prescribed estrogen hormone therapy and puberty-blocking medication, according to the court. Starting in elementary school, she has participated only on girls’ athletic teams.
“B.P.J. has demonstrated that using the act on her would treat her worse than people who are similarly placed, rob her of any meaningful athletic opportunities, and do so based on sex. That is all Title IX requires,” Heytens wrote.
While the ruling makes clear that the law is discriminatory, ACLU-West Virginia spokesperson Billy Wolfe said in a statement,” as far as we know, our client is the only child currently impacted by this law. If others find themselves in this situation, we encourage them to contact the ACLU-WV legal team. ”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was “deeply disappointed” in the decision, the Republican said. His office claimed that the ban is still in effect despite the specific case decided on Tuesday.
I will continue to fight to protect Title IX. We must continue to work to protect women’s sports so that girls have a truly fair playing field and women’s safety is ensured,” Morrisey said. We are aware that the law is sound and will use every tool we have to defend it. ”
A preliminary injunction that was granted in July 2021 was disbanded by a federal judge in January 2023. Additionally, the judge determined that the state’s transgender law did not violate Title IX.
The appeals court noted that it did not find that government officials were unable to establish separate sports teams for boys and girls or that they lacked authority to monitor the line drawn between those teams.
We also don’t agree with Title IX’s requirement that all transgender girls be allowed to play on girls’ teams, regardless of whether they went through puberty or had circulating testosterone levels that were elevated, the court wrote. We only contend that the district court erred by denying B’s request for summary judgment and granting these defendants’ motions for summary judgment in this particular case. P. J. on her specific Title IX claim. ”
Judge G dissented. Without violating Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause, according to Steven Agee, the state can separate teams based on the gender that was given birth. ”
In recent years, one of the main fronts in legislative and legal battles involving the role of transgender people in the U.S. is sports participation. S. public life. Most Republican-controlled states have passed restrictions on participation, as well as bans on gender-affirming health care for minors. Some restrictions apply to the types of locker rooms and bathrooms that transgender people can use, particularly in schools.
West Virginia is one of at least 24 states that prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in particular women’s or girls’ sports competitions.
The bans are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
In addition to West Virginia, judges have temporarily put enforcement of the bans on hold in Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. However, the 2nd Circuit reintroduced a challenge to Connecticut’s policy of letting transgender girls compete in girls’ sports last year, sending it back to a lower court without ruling on its merits.
Later this month, Ohio will be outlawed.
A new federal Title IX rule that addresses both transgender athletes and campus sexual assault was originally planned by the Biden administration. The department made the decision to divide them into separate rules earlier this year, and the athletics rule is still in debate.
The court found that the ban was discriminatory against a teen athlete but did not overturn it, according to the correction in this story.
