Roe v. Utah High School Activities Association (2022)

This lawsuit challenges Part 9 of House Bill 11. which prohibits girls who are transgender from competing on a girls’ team in interscholastic school sports. It does so by providing that “sex” is “determined by an individual’s genetics and anatomy at birth” and then banning all “student[s] of the male sex” from any “team designated for students of the female sex in an interscholastic athletic activity.” H.B. 11 at Part 9. Based on this statutory language, a transgender girl, regardless of her individual circumstances, will be treated as “male” and barred from competing on a girls’ team in any sport. By singling out transgender girls for disfavored treatment, the Ban violates multiple provisions of the Utah Constitution. The law erroneously uses a student’s transgender status as a proxy for athletic ability and thus is overbroad, unjustifiably banning all transgender girls from competing on girls’ teams regardless of their individual circumstances or the sport in which they want to compete.

The law, which the Legislature enacted over Governor Spencer Cox’s veto, singles out transgender girls in order to exclude them from girls’ sports. It bars every transgender girl from competing on a girls’ team regardless of her medical care or individual circumstances.

The students included in the challenge are transgender girls who are current public-school students, love sports, and want to participate in sports with other girls. The families of these children are proceeding anonymously to protect their children. They include Jenny Roe, a 16-year-old junior in High School who wants to play volleyball her senior year and Jane Noe, a 13-year-old swimmer. If HB 11 is allowed to go into effect, these children will be barred from playing the sports they love.

If you have questions about why ACLU Utah filed a lawsuit against HB 11 we encourage you to read this FAQ that explains our issues with HB 11.