RICHMOND, VA – Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares today filed an amicus brief in support of the Hanover County School Board’s policy that reaffirmed that, for sports separated by sex, student participation would generally be determined by sex rather than gender identity. The School Board is opposing a legal challenge that would require it to allow a biological male student to try out for the middle school girls’ tennis team. 

“Neither the federal Constitution nor any federal statute require Virginia school boards to allow biological males to play on a girls sports team,” said Attorney General Miyares. “Rather, civil rights law is meant to protect female equity in athletics. I urge the court to ensure that women’s rights and opportunities remain protected in Virginia.”

The student filed a lawsuit earlier this month and is seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow the student to try out for the tennis team next month. A hearing is set for August 6. In the amicus brief, Miyares argues that the injunction should be denied because the student is unlikely to succeed in showing that the School Board’s reasonable policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution or Title IX.

Read a copy of the amicus brief here.

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