A federal judge in Indiana has temporarily blocked the state from protecting women’s sports after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 10-year-old transgender child currently using puberty blockers.
On Tuesday, the Obama-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson issued a preliminary injunction against House Bill 1041, arguing that it potentially violates Title IX and the previous Supreme Court decision that equated discrimination of transgenders to sex discrimination.
In her ruling, the judge argued that the bill “raises controversial issues regarding the boundaries of Title IX and whether and how those boundaries should stretch and shift in an ever-changing world.”
Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Indiana’s bill passed the state legislature in March and barred athletes from competing in sports not corresponding to their biological gender.
“A male, based on a student’s biological sex at birth in accordance with the student’s genetics and reproductive biology, may not participate on an athletic team or sport designated under this section as being a female, women’s, or girls’ athletic team or sport,” the bill reads.
Though the state’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, originally vetoed it, state lawmakers overrode his veto and the law went into effect earlier in July.
In May, the ACLU filed suit against Indiana Public Schools (IPS) on behalf of a transgender 10-year-old, a biological boy living as a girl, who was barred from participating on his school’s all-girls softball team. The child, identified only as A.M., had originally been permitted to play on the team in the previous school year before the law had been passed and went into effect.
Transgender woman Lia Thomas (L) of the University of Pennsylvania stands on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle as other medalists (L-R) Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan and Brooke Forde pose for a photo at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships on March 17, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The child reportedly came out as transgender to his family at the age of four and has been living as a girl ever since. He recently began taking puberty blockers.
Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray called the bill “a matter of simple fairness” and expected for legal challenges.
“We don’t like to get to the state of Indiana sued, but it happens from time to time,” he said. “It’s a policy that I think we can stand behind.”
As many as 19 states have passed laws barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
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