TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Jane Doe, 11, and Megan Roe, 15, are two transgender girls whose names are being protected by the court.
One of them is a student at the Gregory School in Tucson. Their legal team said they both have gender dysphoria and Roe is already taking puberty blockers while Doe will be taking them soon.
The legal team representing them sought a temporary inunction so they can compete in girls sports, taking their case to a Tucson federal court on Monday.
They argue they should be able to play on the girls sports teams and are hoping the judge is going to temporarily lift an Arizona law that bans transgender athletes from being able to play on a team that doesn’t align with their biological sex.
However, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne argues since Doe and Roe were born male, they have biological advantages over girls, even with them taking puberty blockers.
“They want to say that pre-puberty the girls and the boys are equal, and they’re not. Boys are better at sports,” Horne said.
He said that’s because boys have physical advantages like strength and they’re usually taller. His team cited at least ten experts who provided proof of that through studies and court cases.
That’s why he says it’s unfair for transgender girls to compete in biological girls sports especially when it comes to getting scholarships or playing in the Olympics.
“They were doing great until they had to deal with biological boys who said they were girls and then they couldn’t compete and they were absolutely devastated,” Horne said.
He said after puberty a boy’s strength increases, giving biological girls even more of a disadvantage against them.
However, Shannon Minter, who is a lawyer with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and one of Roe and Doe’s lawyers said that’s not the case.
“If all you know about a girl is that she’s transgender, that doesn’t tell you anything about her athletic ability,” Minter said.
He said banning them from playing on a girls team would harm their self-confidence.
“Part of the whole process of going to school and growing up is learning how to fit in, how to develop friendships, how to discover who you’re going to be,” he said.
Minter and his team said the ban's premise is that girls who are not transgender need protection from transgender girls.
“It’s so much based on false stereotypes and misinformation. This is the danger when we start categorizing groups of people,” he said.
However, Horne’s team argues that in sports, even slight advantages can determine the winner of games.
“If there were no difference, then there would be no reason to have a boys team and a girls team. We would have co-ed teams,” Horne said.
He said transgender athletes can join co-ed sports teams.
However, this case isn’t over. Today the judge made a motion to continue this case but did not make any final rulings. Both sides are still waiting to hear about when they will have to appear in court next.
