A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Hanover County transgender student who was prevented from playing on her school’s girls tennis team because of her gender identity.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia filed the lawsuit last month on behalf of an 11-year-old middle school student identified as “Janny Doe.” memo U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck handed down the decision on August 16, the company announced on its website.
According to the ACLU of Virginia, Lauck said the Hanover County School Board “may have violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause” by preventing the student from joining the school’s tennis team in 2023. ” was recognized.
“Janney said that when the board denied her application to try out for (and join if selected) her school’s girls tennis team, it excluded her from participation in the educational program because of her gender. “We have established that,” Lauck wrote. .
The ACLU of Virginia added that Lauck said the school board’s actions were “contrary to the strong public interest in an educational institution free of discrimination of any kind.”
The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Virginia and Washington-based law firm WilmerHale in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond, alleges that the school board voted not to allow Doe to “join” the girls’ tennis team. I’m pointing out what I’ve done. This is despite the fact that “she successfully qualified during tryouts and her parents submitted the documents requested by the school board to prove her qualifications.”
“At the center of this lawsuit is an 11-year-old girl who loves tennis and just wants to play with her friends on a team she already made last year,” Wyatt Lawler, senior transgender rights attorney for the ACLU of Virginia, said Monday. said. press release. “Adults on the Hanover County School Board bullied Janie by naming transgender students in the district, violating non-discrimination protections designed to ensure the admission of all students to public schools.”
Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration announced final Title IX regulations that specifically protect against discrimination against LGBTQ students based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The new regulations went into effect on August 1 (the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on August 16, said the new regulations could not go into effect in states that challenged them in federal court).
Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is one of the state attorneys general who has vowed to block the new Title IX rules from taking effect.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court rejected the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to narrow the district court ruling that prevented the administration’s Title IX rewrite from taking effect in Virginia,” Miyares said. Statement to Virginia Public Radio.
In July 2023, the Virginia Department of Education released new guidelines for transgender and nonbinary students requested by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Advocacy groups maintain guidelines that would specifically exclude transgender and non-binary students. Arlington County Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Schools are among the school districts that have refused to implement it.
“This ruling should make all school districts, not just Hanover, think twice before using the VDOE’s model policy to justify discriminating against students,” Laura said.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
