Beauty Pageants Have First Amendment Right to Limit Contestants to “Natural Born Females”: No Rehearing En Banc
The order, which appears not to be accompanied by any dissents from denial of rehearing en banc (or concurrences in the denial) is here:
A judge of this court sua sponte requested a vote on whether to rehear this case en banc. A vote was taken, and the matter failed to receive a majority of the votes of the nonrecused active judges in favor of en banc consideration. See Fed. R. App. P. 35(f). Judges Forrest and H.A. Thomas did not participate in the deliberations or vote in this case. Rehearing en banc is DENIED.
Here’s the key part of the Nov. 2 panel majority opinion, in Green v. Miss United States of America LLC (Judge Lawrence VanDyke, joined by Judge Carlos Bea, with Judge Susan Graber dissenting):
Anita Green, who self-identifies as “an openly transgender female,” sued the Miss United States of America pageant, alleging that the Pageant’s “natural born female” eligibility requirement violates the Oregon Public Accommodations Act (“OPAA”). The district court granted the Pageant’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the First Amendment protects the Pageant’s expressive association rights to exclude a person who would impact the group’s ability to express its views.
We conclude that the district court was correct
Article from Reason.com
