After years in court, two families have agreed to voluntarily dismiss their case challenging Utah’s ban on transgender student athletes in girls’ sports.
Families of two transgender girls filed the lawsuit against two school districts and the Utah High School Activities Association in 2022, shortly after the law was passed. A judge put the state ban on hold as the case worked through the courts.
In a court filing, dated Oct. 6, attorneys for the plaintiffs and the defendants agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be filed again.
“The Parties will bear their own respective costs, expenses, and fees,” the stipulation of dismissal said.
Before it was challenged, the law passed by lawmakers stated that a “student of the male sex” can’t compete with a “team designated for students of the female sex.” Transgender students are allowed to participate on school sports teams that match their gender identity, but they can’t compete.
When the ban was initially put on hold due to the lawsuit, it triggered the creation of a state commission to determine on a case-by-case basis whether transgender student athletes could compete, depending on whether they met certain medical standards, including low enough testosterone levels.
With the lawsuit dismissed, Utah Speaker of the House Mike Schultz said that the commission is no more and the state’s 2022 ban is fully in effect.
While Utah’s ban seems to be settled, the nation’s highest court is slated to rule on whether states can ban transgender student athletes from girls' and women’s sports.
The U.S. Supreme Court started a new term Oct. 6 and is considering two cases dealing with the issue — one from Idaho, Little v. Hecox, and a second from West Virginia, West Virginia v. B.P.J. In both instances, transgender girls sued after state laws barred them from playing on sports teams that matched their gender identity. The lower courts sided with the students.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Utah’s legislative leaders celebrated the dismissal as a victory.
Schultz called it a “major win for fairness, safety, and the preservation of women’s sports in Utah.”
He wrote on social media, “Biological males will no longer be able to compete in girls’ sports.”
And former lawmaker Kera Birkeland, who co-sponsored the original bill, called the dismissal a “significant victory.”
When Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed the bill in 2022, he said that only four transgender kids were playing high school sports in the state. The veto was later overridden.
Before the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss, the Utah judge over the case had repeatedly refused requests from state attorneys to dismiss it.
