Huge win for transgender student athletes! The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a West Virginia policy preventing transgender youth from participating in the sports team that aligns with their gender identity violates Title IX. 
This marks the first time a federal court has ruled that an anti-transgender athletics restriction is unconstitutional, setting a critical precedent for other states in the 4th Circuit with discriminatory bans, including South Carolina and North Carolina. If this ruling stands, it’s a major step in the right direction for transgender youth in South Carolina and North Carolina who have been blocked from playing sports.
The decision from the 4th Circuit is clear: trans athletes belong in school sports. In the court’s own words:
“The question before us is whether the [Save Women’s Sports] Act may lawfully be applied to prevent a 13-year-old transgender girl who takes puberty blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since the third grade from participating in her school’s cross country and track teams. We hold it cannot.” – United States Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education
We want to give our thanks and appreciation to the defendants in this case, including all of the brave trans athletes fighting for their right to play the sports they love, and the organizations that stood behind them: The Trevor Project, Athlete Ally, The National Women’s Law Center, and more.
This is a pivotal time in defining the rights of trans kids for decades to come, and even though we’re cheering the win on the sports ban, we’re extremely concerned about the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday allowing Idaho’s cruel and unconstitutional gender-affirming care ban to go into effect. The ACLU of South Carolina wrote:
“The Supreme Court’s partial stay in Idaho doesn’t bolster the case of anti-trans lawmakers here in South Carolina or anywhere else. In fact, the court’s order didn’t discuss the constitutionality of the ban at all….The partial stay in Idaho is not a forecast of what’s to come. The court did not indicate that it is going to rule in favor of the state or that it is going to take up the case at all.”
We won’t stop fighting until every LGBTQ+ person can get the care they need to thrive – and be treated equally in every aspect of their lives (including school sports). That’s going to take folks from every corner of the country speaking out in support of trans folks.
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