Appeals Court Upholds Ruling That Blocks Arizona Law on Transgender Sports

A federal appeals court on Sept. 9 upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the enforcement of an Arizona state law banning boys identifying as transgender from playing on girls’ sports teams in schools. This ruling followed a lawsuit filed last year by two transgender-identifying plaintiffs challenging Arizona’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” alleging that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A federal judge in Tucson granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction in July last year. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on Sept. 9, upholding the lower court’s preliminary injunction against an Arizona law that barred them from participating in their chosen school sports teams....