While the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments, people gathered in the yard outside Union Coffee on Cedar Springs Road, to protest laws that violate the rights of trans men and women.
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Legal Voice filed two challenges, West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox, on behalf of two transgender female athletes — one in West Virginia and one in Idaho — who were categorically barred by West Virginia and Idaho state law from participating on the girls’ and women’s sports teams at their schools.
Attorneys for the two transgender athletes argued that the bans violate the rights of transgender and cisgender female students under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, in West Virginia v. B.P.J. they argued that West Virginia’s ban violates Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs. Federal courts have blocked enforcement of these bans in both lawsuits.
Since 2020, 27 states have banned transgender youth from playing school sports. Many of these bans allow for invasive forms of sex testing that put all female student-athletes at risk and embolden intrusive challenges to student-athletes’ sex.
While the justices heard arguments inside the court, outside of the court, hundreds of rally goers traveling from across the country gathered in support of the plaintiffs and the importance of equal access to interscholastic and intercollegiate sports teams, which provide teammates many benefits beyond sports itself.
Here are pictures of the rally in Dallas organized by Lambda Legal and the ACLU.
— David Taffet
