➤ GABBARD, from p.10
have the opportunity to compete
and excel on a level playing fi eld.”
Trans and non-binary athletes
have weathered a series of fresh
attacks throughout the year, from
coast to coast. Athletic governing
bodies in Connecticut and New
Hampshire that have allowed individuals
to participate in sports
in accordance with their gender
identity have faced legal resistance
from the Trump administration’s
Department of Education, while
state legislatures — such as in Idaho
— have passed laws banning
trans athletes from participating
in women’s sports.
That law was subsequently
quashed by a federal judge who
pointed to the June Supreme Court
ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County,
which concluded that gender
identity and sexual orientation are
covered as protected classes under
the defi nition of sex in Title VII of
the 1964 Civil Rights Act. While
the immediate impact of that decision
was confi ned to employment,
it is widely expected to have a
broader impact in other areas such
➤ SCOTUS, from p.10
including the Ninth and Third
Circuit Courts of Appeals, on this
point.
As transgender students have
become increasingly assertive in
seeking to affi rm their rights to
access facilities consistent with
their gender identity — most notably,
former Virginia high school
student Gavin Grimm, who capped
a fi ve-year legal battle with a victory
at the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals in August — a backlash
has set in, sparked in part by the
efforts of anti-LGBTQ litigation
groups such as Alliance Defending
Freedom, which brought the
suit against the Boyertown school
district.
Interestingly, in the Dallas, Oregon,
case, nine amicus briefs were
fi led with the Ninth Circuit — all
from leading LGBTQ and other civil
rights groups and medical and educational
groups that opposed the
claims against the school district.
None of the usual suspects on the
bigoted right fi led briefs in support
of the lawsuit, which was waged by
as housing, public accommodations,
access to credit, and in public
schools and universities.
Nonetheless, the threats targeting
trans athletes are notably not
just confi ned to the United States.
World Rugby, which spearheads
the Rugby World Cup every four
years, imposed a new ban on trans
women in October, representing a
major warning sign considering
that it was the fi rst international
sports governing body to take such
a step.
A press release distributed by
Gabbard’s offi ce referred to “the
average difference in abilities
conferred by biological sex” without
providing any evidence, while
Mullin described trans women as
“biological males” in explaining his
posture on the issue.
“Title IX was designed to give
women and girls an equal chance
to succeed, including in sports,”
Mullin said in a written statement.
“Allowing biological males to compete
in women’s sports diminishes
that equality and takes away from
the original intent of Title IX. As
➤ GABBARD, continued on p.20
a group that styled itself Parents
for Privacy.
Representing Basic Rights Oregon
and transgender students
in the Dallas school district, the
American Civil Liberties Union
and the ACLU of Oregon were allowed
intervenor status in the
case, alongside the school district
defendant.
In a written statement, Chase
Strangio, the deputy director for
trans justice with the ACLU’s
LGBT & HIV Project, said, “The Supreme
Court has once again said
that transgender youth are not
a threat to other students. As we
look towards state legislative sessions
that will likely continue the
attacks on trans youth, the decision
not to take this case is an important
and powerful message to
trans and non-binary youth that
they deserve to share space with
and enjoy the benefi ts of school
alongside their non-transgender
peers. We will continue to fi ght in
courts, in legislatures, and in our
families and communities to ensure
that all trans people feel safe
and belong.”
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