A federal court on Monday upheld a new Florida law that prevents biological males from competing in female sports, ruling that the state has a legitimate interest in “protecting and promoting athletic opportunities for girls.”
The law was signed in 2021 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the wake of a series of controversies around the country involving transgender-identifying males defeating biological girls in sports. In Connecticut, for example, two high school athletes who are biologically male but who identify as female won a total of 15 state track championships in the female division. It was dubbed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by a Broward County high school student who is male but identifies as female and wants to play on the girl’s volleyball and soccer teams.
Federal Judge Roy K. Altman dismissed the suit, ruling that the law does not violate Title IX or the U.S. Constitution.
The laws’s “gender-based classifications are rooted in real differences between the sexes — not stereotypes,” Altman wrote.