An Arizona statute that forbids men from participating on women’s sports teams has now reportedly been invalidated by a federal judge.
Judge Jennifer Zipps, an Obama appointment to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, granted a preliminary injunction against Arizona’s “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), in support of the families of two males who identify as female, filed the complaint in April, claiming that Arizona’s statute violates both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Austin Killips, a transgender cyclist, took first place in the women’s classification in the UCI Tour of the Gila competition in May.
While swimming for the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas broke several records. She placed 462 when competing for the men’s squad.
The judge concluded that the plantiffs would “suffer severe and irreparable mental, physical, and emotional harm if the Act applies to them because they cannot play on boys’ sports teams.”
“Playing on a boys’ team would directly contradict Plaintiffs’ medical treatment for gender dysphoria and would be painful and humiliating… Plaintiffs’ mental health is dependent on living as girls in all aspects of their lives.” Zipps concluded
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