Our New York partner Shireen Barday and associate Mark Davies filed an amicus brief on behalf of The Trevor Project in connection with a challenge to a transgender sports ban in West Virginia, prohibiting transgender girls from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identities.
The United States District Court for the District of West Virginia initially upheld the law, and the plaintiff appealed. The question presented to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on appeal was whether West Virginia’s transgender sports ban could “lawfully be applied to prevent a 13-year-old transgender girl who takes puberty blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since the third grade from participating in her school’s cross country and track teams.”
In a terrific victory for the plaintiff and other transgender student athletes, the Fourth Circuit held unequivocally that “it cannot.” The Court then vacated in part and reversed in part the District Court decision and remanded the case with instructions for the District Court to enter summary judgment in favour of the plaintiff and for further proceedings (including remedial proceedings) consistent with the Court of Appeals decision.
Pallas Partners (US) LLP is pro bono counsel to The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people.
