Transgender advocates and transgender athletes in the state of Florida got some pretty horrible news this week as a federal judge in the state of Florida has upheld the state’s ban on transgender athletes in public schools and colleges from playing on female sports teams.
In a decision dated Monday, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman – who was appointed by former United States President Donald Trump – dismissed a Broward County student’s claims of discrimination, ruling that Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act does not violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Today, we were asked whether a law that separates public-school sports teams by biological sex violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Altman said according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel. ”We find that it does not.”
Altman explained his decision in a 39-page order.
“The Plaintiff is right to say that the statute treats transgender girls differently from both cisgender girls and transgender boys,” the judge wrote. “Under the law, after all, biological females (whether cis or trans) can play on both girls’ and boys’ sports teams. Transgender girls, by contrast, considered male by birth, cannot play on girls’ sports teams.
“But not all gender-based classifications violate the Equal Protection Clause.”
It’s a big decision, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media as a result.
Florida: “U.S. District Judge Roy Altman on Monday [… dismissed] a lawsuit filed on behalf of a transgender high school volleyball player.”
“Altman ruled that the controversial law did not violate constitutional equal protection and due-process rights and Title IX”…
— boysvswomen.com (@boysvswomen) November 8, 2023
A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit challenging Florida's Fairness in Women's Sports Act, handing a victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis and a defeat to transgender athletes seeking to compete on female teams based on gender identity. https://t.co/4qBIunHj1h
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 7, 2023
CORRECT: “In requiring schools to designate sports-team memberships on the basis of biological sex, the statute adopts the uncontroversial proposition that most men and women do have different (and innate) physical attributes.” @icons_women https://t.co/dKAeUQ60Ae – @washtimes
— Mary I. O'Connor, MD OLY (@MaryOConnorMD) November 7, 2023
Another big DeSantis win. https://t.co/Hm6lMsz4ms
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) November 7, 2023
This is great news! Earlier this year, the US House passed a similar bill I co-introduced to protect female athletes. Our bill is waiting action by the US Senate. https://t.co/omjCVU6X4U
— Daniel Webster (@WebsterCongress) November 7, 2023
As it should be. https://t.co/JgOa68Ow3f
— Rep. Fred Deutsch (@FredDeutsch) November 7, 2023
The Human Rights Campaign, who brought the case on behalf of the student, said that the organization “is actively working with the plaintiffs on potential next steps.”
