By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX — Arizona has not shown a legitimate reason to categorically ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
In a 55-page decision, the three-judge panel rejected claims by state schools chief Tom Horne that there are legitimate reasons for the 2022 law that spells out that teams designated for women or girls “may not be open to students of the male sex.” And by “sex,” the law means the one assigned at birth based on a baby’s sex organs.
Strictly speaking, Monday’s ruling affects only two transgender girls in Arizona who want to participate in sports, one a student at Kyrene Aprende Middle School and another attending the Gregory School, a private school in Tucson. The judges said they have been medicated to block hormones, and there is no evidence presented that either had a physical advantage over those born female.
