ACLU of Virginia sues Hanover School Board on behalf of transgender student allegedly banned from sports team

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A transgender student in Hanover County is fighting for their chance to play on the team of their choice. On Wednesday, July 3, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU) filed a Title IX lawsuit against the Hanover County School Board to give more power to that fight.

This is the second time that the ACLU has filed a Title IX lawsuit on behalf of a Hanover transgender student. The latest suit claims the Hanover County School Board blocked the transgender student identified only as “Janie Doe” from playing on a sports team for which she qualified for.

“That’s one of those issues that everybody is talking about these days. It’s a hot button issue for a lot of people, and it’s a complicated one,” said 8News Legal Analyst Russ Stone about the lawsuit.

The school board had previously arrived at the decision to not allow the middle school student to join the unidentified sports team even after she successfully made the team during tryouts and her family provided the necessary documentation. Now, “Doe” is fighting for her rights, which she said the school board has violated.

“A lawsuit like this is essentially demanding an action rather than demanding money. In other words, they’re not saying, you owe me some money,” Stone said. “They’re saying, ‘we are ordering you to do something.'”

Stone said that cases like these are hard for many reasons, but mostly because there is no precedent.

“It has not really been settled in the courts, and so that means it’s a relatively new and novel issue,” Stone said.

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits the discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded activities.

However, there are currently 24 states that currently have transgender athlete bans. Title IX usually stops those bans from happening even though the law doesn’t directly address gender.

“It’s not entirely a law that deals directly with gender. Title IX does not use the phrase gender identity. Title IX talks about sex. Are you male? Are you female? And it says that females should have the same rights to participate in athletics as males,” Stone said.

Stone said even though the lawsuit is fresh and just getting started, no matter what the outcome is, the results of the lawsuit could still be a game changer.

“This case may very well be the first of its kind in the Fourth Circuit. So, yes, if this case were to make a ruling one way or the other, then that case could very well be precedent for other courts to decide,” Stone said.

8News reached out to Hanover County schools for comment and received the following statement from Chris Whitley, the school division’s assistant superintendent:

“It is not the practice of the Hanover County School Board or Hanover County Public Schools to comment on pending litigation.”

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