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Typically, high schools offer separate teams for boys and girls, but the increasing number of young people openly identifying as transgender ("trans") has complicated this sex-segregated approach. High school athletic associations across the country have adopted varied regulations regarding the eligibility of trans athletes: restrictive policies require trans students to compete on teams corresponding to their sex at birth without exception; fully inclusive policies allow all trans students to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity; and partially inclusive policies permit trans boys to play on all-boy teams without restriction but require trans girls to undergo specific medical interactions before playing on all-girl teams.
Plaintiffs challenging these policies will likely rely on Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amndmnt. Under other claim, a high school athletic association would need to establish that classifying trans students by their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity-or vice versa-furthers a legitimate government interest.
Restrictive policies fail rational basis review because forcing female-to-male (FTM) trans boys to compete against girls ironically undermines notions of fair play. Additionally, male-to-female (MTF) trans girls who have undergone a year of cross-gender hormone treatments enjoy no significant competitive edge over their cisgender girl peers. Fully inclusive policies are constitutionally valid because creating a welcoming educational environment for trans students is a legitimate state objective and an athletic policy that allows trans players to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity is rationally related to that goal. Finally, partially inclusive policies, which require MTF trans girls to undergo a year of hormone therapy before competing on all-girl teams, are valid because a state athletic association may rationally determine that, without medical intervention, trans girls have a competitive advantage and may endanger fellow female players.
Although partially inclusive athletic policies are legally permissible, high school athletic associations should pursue fully inclusive models that validate the dignity of trans students.
Introduction
In February 2017, Mack Beggs, a transgender boy,1 won the Texas high school girls' state wrestling championship amidst an uproar of controversy.2 Beggs, who had undergone medically prescribed hormone therapy since October 2015 to aid in his transition, requested to compete against other boys, but the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the...