Court Upholds Law Excluding Male-to-Female Transgender Athletes from Girls’ Sports
From today’s decision by Judge Joseph Goodwin (S.D. W. Va.) in B.P.J. v. W. Va. State Bd. of Ed.:
West Virginia passed a law that defines “girl” and “woman,” for the purpose of
secondary school sports, as biologically female. Under the law, all biological males,
including those who identify as transgender girls, are ineligible for participation on
girls’ sports teams. B.P.J., a transgender girl who wants to play girls’ sports,
challenges the law. The question before the court is whether the legislature’s chosen
definition of “girl” and “woman” in this context is constitutionally permissible. I find
that it is.
The court applied intermediate scrutiny (since, whatever one’s views of transgender rights questions, the law classifies people by sex, and sex classifications have generally been held to require such scrutiny). It reasoned, among other things:
Whether a person has male or female sex chromosomes determines many of the physical characteristics relevant to athletic performance. Those with male chromosomes, regardless of their gender identity, naturally undergo male puberty, resulting in an increase in testosterone in the body. B.P.J. herself recognizes that “[t]here is a medical consensus that the largest known biological cause of average differences in athletic performance between [males and females] is circulating testosterone beginning with puberty.”
While some females may be able to outperform some males, it is gen
Article from Reason.com
