A decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a West Virginia law that sought to ban transgender students from playing on girls' sports teams.
The federal court’s decision said the law violated Title IX, a civil rights law that prevents gender-based discrimination in schools. Additionally, "the court said the law cannot lawfully be applied to a 13-year-old" who has identified as transgender since third grade, according to the Associated Press.
Federal courts previously blocked the law from being enforced in 2021 after a lawsuit was filed when a transgender student wasn’t allowed to try out for the girls’ cross-country and track teams at school.
H.B. 3293 cited the Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which concluded that “gender identity is separate and distinct from biological sex to the extent that an individual's biological sex is not determinative or indicative of the individual's gender identity.”
The bill says that “classifications based on gender identity serve no legitimate relationship to the State of West Virginia's interest in promoting equal athletic opportunities for the female sex.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) previously commented on the transgender sports issue in an op-ed for Fox News.
“Biological women competing alongside biological men is anything but fair. It robs young girls and women of their chance to succeed on an equal playing field, and I believe could discourage many to participate,” Capito said.
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“If you really do support equality and women in sports, then support the girls and women who put in the work and dedicate themselves to being the best," the senator said.
Other transgender sports bans are now in effect in 23 other states, with a ban in Ohio set to be enforced later this month. Arizona, Idaho, and Utah have paused the enforcement of their bans.
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