A federal judge has ordered a Virginia school board to allow a transgender-identified male student to play on the girls’ middle school tennis team while a discrimination lawsuit against the board proceeds in court.
On August 16, U.S. District Court Judge M. Hannah Lauck issued a preliminary injunction against the Hanover County School Board, ruling that the plaintiff, referred to as “Janie Doe,” had demonstrated that the board discriminated against her based on sex by denying her the opportunity to try out for the girls’ tennis team. In her ruling, Judge Lauck stated that the board’s actions excluded the student “on the basis of sex” from participating in an educational program.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in July, claims that the school board discriminated against the 11-year-old student by refusing to allow her to play on the girls’ sports team. Janie Doe, who has identified as female since the age of seven, has used she/her pronouns and presented herself as a girl to her family, friends, and school. Her legal name was changed at age eight, and a birth certificate was issued reflecting her sex as female.
According to court documents, Janie began seeing a clinical psychologist specializing in transgender care in August 2020 and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2022. That same year, she received a histrelin implant, a puberty blocker, which was replaced in February 2024 as part of her ongoing treatment.
In August 2023, Janie tried out for the girls’ tennis team, as playing on the boys’ team would “deny Janie’s ‘gender identity and undermine her gender-affirming medical treatment.'” Although she was selected for the team, her parents later received a letter from the school board requesting medical documentation of Janie’s “consistent expression as female.”
Despite providing the requested documentation, the board sent another letter stating that it had unanimously voted against allowing Janie to participate on the girls’ team to ensure fairness in competition. When Janie attempted to try out for tennis again in 2024, the board again denied her request for reconsideration during an August meeting.
Judge Lauck concluded that Janie had made a compelling case that she is likely to succeed in her Title IX claim, which alleges sex-based discrimination. The judge noted that Hanover County Public Schools were receiving federal financial assistance when Janie’s application was denied and that the denial caused harm to Janie. Furthermore, the court found that the sex-based discrimination against Janie treated her worse than other students in similar situations.