The Hanover County School Board will vote next week on whether a transgender student can play on the girls’ tennis team.
The decision will be made the night before a federal judge is scheduled to hear a lawsuit alleging school administrators violated the law by previously denying the 11-year-old a spot on the team.
Janie Doe tried out for, and made, the girls’ tennis team at a Hanover middle school in 2023. But the school board concluded Janie — a pseudonym used to protect her identity — was not allowed to play on the team that fall because she was assigned male at birth. The school district’s policy states that for any activities separated by sex, student participation should be determined by sex, not gender identity. The policy does, however, provide for “reasonable modifications” on an individual basis.
At its Aug. 13 meeting, the Hanover school board will consider a renewed request for Janie to participate.
Judge M. Hannah Lauck, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, pushed back a hearing — in anticipation of the school board’s decision — on the ACLU of Virginia’s motion to stop Hanover schools from again barring Janie from playing on the girls’ team.
Attorneys for Hanover said in court documents that motion is premature because it was filed in anticipation of Hanover denying Janie’s request.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit July 3 against the school board, former Superintendent Michael Gill — who resigned in July — and school board chair Bob May. It argues Hanover violated Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a brief with the court last month in support of Hanover schools. In it, he argues the policy, based on the Virginia Department of Education’s trans student policies, does not violate Title IX. He says the government has a vested interest in “maintaining competitive fairness in sports.”
The ACLU filed two other lawsuits in state court challenging the state’s policies. One, in York County, was dismissed. The second, in Hanover, is scheduled to be heard Aug. 20.
