In a July 3 lawsuit against the Hanover County School Board, outgoing Superintendent Michael Gill and board chair Robert May, the ACLU of Virginia alleges discrimination against an 11-year-old transgender student who was denied a spot on the girls tennis team for the 2023-2024 school year.
Attorneys for the defendants responded to the lawsuit for the first time in a Monday court filing, asking the court to deny the ACLU’s motion to stop the district from enforcing its policies on transgender athletes and require it to allow the student to play on the team.
“Plaintiff expects the Hanover County School Board (“School Board”) to deny her request to try out for and participate on the girls’ tennis team at her middle school,” the filing reads. “Until the School Board acts, Plaintiff has not suffered an injury in fact to give rise to standing nor is her claim ripe. Therefore, the Court should deny the Motion for Preliminary Injunction.”
In a Sept. 5, 2023, letter, Hanover school board chair Bob May notified the student’s parents that even though she’d already made the team, the board would reconsider her participation because board members learned Janie Doe, a pseudonym to protect her identity, was assigned male at birth.
May cited the July 18, 2023, release of the Virginia Department of Education’s model policies, "Ensuring Privacy, Dignity and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools." The policies are a guide for school districts to use as they develop their own rules for the treatment of transgender students.
The ACLU of Virginia filed separate lawsuits in state court challenging the policies, calling them anti-trans.
The school board asked for evidence of Janie’s “consistent expression as female, including any medical documentation or verification…” and in a Sept.12 closed session, denied her request.
“After careful consideration, the school board voted unanimously against permitting your student to participate on the middle school girls’ tennis team in effort to ensure fairness in competition for all participants,” May said in a Sept. 14, 2023 letter to Janie’s parents.
The following November, the school board updated its policies to include language that provided for “reasonable modifications” to its transgender student policies.
On June 12, 2024, attorneys for the school board notified Janie's parents that administrators would reconsider its decision for the upcoming season. Janie’s parents submitted a new request June 21 with a letter from her physician explaining that Janie was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was receiving care.
The board discussed the issue in a closed session during its July 9 meeting; in open session, May delayed the vote until August.
The ACLU argues Janie’s rights were violated under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal funding.
A federal judge in Richmond has scheduled a 10 a.m. Aug. 6 hearing to consider the ACLU’s motion to stop Hanover from enforcing its rules for transgender students and require the school district to permit Janie to play on the tennis team this fall.
