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A federal appeals court has upheld a lower-court ruling that blocks Arizona from enforcing a law that bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams. The three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded that the law discriminates based on transgender status and violates the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution. The ruling only applies to two transgender girls whose parents filed a lawsuit challenging the law, which will remain blocked while the case is litigated.
Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne, expressed disappointment in the ruling, stating that they expected to win in the U.S. Supreme Court. On the other hand, Rachel Berg, an attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing the girls and their parents, hailed the ruling as recognizing that a student’s transgender status should not determine their athletic ability.
This decision comes amid a wave of similar laws in several states limiting access to school sports teams based on assigned sex rather than gender identity. LGBTQ+ rights advocates argue that these measures are anti-transgender attacks disguised as protections for children. At least 26 states have adopted such laws, which are facing court challenges with enforcement put on hold in Idaho, Ohio, and Utah, as well as some specific cases in other states.
The ruling in Arizona contrasts with a separate ruling in New Hampshire allowing two transgender girls to try out and play on girls’ school sports teams. These laws are part of broader efforts to restrict the rights of transgender individuals, including laws restricting gender-affirming healthcare for minors and requiring schools not to inform parents about students’ pronoun requests.
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