Judge won’t toss lawsuit against Utah transgender sports ban

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A decide on Wednesday rejected the request by Utah officers to throw out a lawsuit difficult a state ban on transgender youngsters who need to compete in youth sports activities.

The ruling comes forward of a listening to scheduled for Thursday the place Choose Keith Kelly will assess whether or not to place the legislation handed by the Republican-majority Legislature this 12 months quickly on maintain.

Kelly dominated that the three transgender ladies who introduced the lawsuit have proven they’re harmed by the legislation that took impact on July 1 and due to this fact have authorized standing for the case to maneuver ahead.

Thomas Lee, a former state Supreme Courtroom justice employed by the state to assist defend the ban, argued within the listening to that the women are simply “involved bystanders” who lack standing to convey the lawsuit, KUTV reported.

Mother and father of the three ladies and their attorneys contend within the lawsuit that the legislation wrongly retains their youngsters from taking part in sports activities whereas violating the state structure that prohibits discrimination and ensures equal rights and due course of.

The problem of whether or not transgender ladies ought to be allowed to take part in feminine sports activities has turn into flashpoint throughout the U.S. with Republican lawmakers passing laws to dam them based mostly on the premise it provides them an unfair aggressive benefit. Transgender rights advocates counter that the principles aren’t nearly sports activities, however one other technique to demean and assault transgender youth.

Comparable authorized circumstances have been enjoying out in Idaho, West Virginia and Indiana.

As of March, the Utah Excessive Faculty Actions Affiliation knew of just one transgender woman enjoying in Okay-12 sports activities who can be affected by the ban. The affiliation, which organizes leagues for 85,000 college students, has stated there have been no publicly made allegations of aggressive benefit regarding any of the state’s 4 transgender youth athletes.