A federal judge has ordered the Indianapolis Public Schools to allow a 10-year-old girl at the center of a legal challenge against a state ban on transgender athletes to rejoin its softball team.
US District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana Jane Magnus-Stinson issued the injunction on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit against IPS brought by the girl in federal court in May.
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The suit alleged that a new Indiana law that prohibits transgender students from participating in all-female school sports amounts to discrimination under federal law that guarantees equal access to education and educational programs. The law took effect on July 1.
An IPS spokesperson told IndyStar it will comply with the court’s order.
“We will continue to support our students, including our transgender students, with the same care and attention we showed prior to the passing (of the law) and the filing of the current lawsuit,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The plaintiff, who filed the suit under her initials A.M., began identifying herself as a girl before the age of four, pursuant to Magnus-Stinson’s order. Her assigned sex at birth was male, Magnus-Stinson wrote, but in 2021 a state court changed the gender marker on her birth certificate to female.
The judge’s order only applies to the case of the 10-year-old.
In a Tuesday statement, Indiana ACLU Legal Director Ken Falk said the legal organization was “pleased” with the decision. They filed the suit on behalf of A.M.
“When disinformation about biology and gender is used to bar transgender girls from school sports, it amounts to the same form of sex discrimination that has long been outlawed by Title IX, a law that protects all students – including transgender people – on the basis of sex. “, Falk said.
The law was passed by both houses in the state legislature earlier this year. Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, wrote the bill that became law. On the Statehouse floor, she said it was written to “keep fair competition in women’s sports now and in the future.”
Advocates for the LGBTQ community criticized the law, saying it would further marginalize an already vulnerable population of kids who want to fit in and play sports with their friends.
Governor Eric Holcomb vetoed the bill in March. He said he tried to tackle a problem that doesn’t exist in Indiana.
“This implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive women’s sports are currently not being met,” Holcomb wrote in a letter explaining his veto. .”
More:Despite Indiana Governor’s Veto To Ban Transgender Girls From School Sports, It Will Be Law
Both the state House and Senate overrode Holcomb’s veto in May, clearing the way for the law to take effect earlier this month.
Magnus-Stinson wrote on Tuesday that he was granting the injunction because A.M. “is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim” that state law violates his civil rights under federal law. She also said there was no evidence that the public would suffer harm if she issued an injunction.
The A.M. process. contesting the law is in progress.
IndyStar reporter Arika Herron contributed.
Call IndyStar reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny
