An attempt to strike down Florida’s protections for women’s sports was officially dismissed by a federal judge on Nov. 6.
“Today, we were asked whether a law that separates public-school sports teams by biological sex violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Judge Roy Altman said in his dismissal of the case.
“We find that it does not.”
A high school student in Broward County, Florida, who was identified in the court documents as DN, attempted to sue Florida governor Ron DeSantis over the recently-signed legislation known as SB-1028, which includes the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.”
DN is a biological male who the court documents state has identified as a female since the age of 5 or 6 and was seeking the ability to play girls’ high school soccer after having already participated in several girls’ sports leagues.
However, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which was signed into law on June 1, 2021, states: “Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex.”
The plaintiff’s case was filed on June 21, 2021, against Mr. DeSantis, as well as the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), the Broward County School Board, Superintendent Robert Runcie, the Florida State Board of Education, and the now-former Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran.
The argument put forth was that the new law was a violation of Title IX, a deprivation of equal protection, and a violation of the right to privacy.
The first motion to dismiss was filed on Aug. 23, 2021. It was denied without prejudice on Jan. 31, 2022, pending the ruling of another ongoing case in Florida’s 11th Circuit Court, but stipulations were added a few days later to dismiss claims against the FHSAA and Mr. DeSantis.
The suit was also amended to replace Mr. Corcoran with his successor, Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr.
Mr. Diaz and the Florida State Board of Education refiled a motion to dismiss on Feb. 10, and it was granted on Nov. 6.
“In our case, SB 1028’s gender-based classifications are rooted in real differences between the sexes—not stereotypes,” Judge Altman said.
“In requiring schools to designate sports-team memberships on the basis of biological sex, the statute adopts the uncontroversial proposition that most men and women do have different [and innate] physical attributes,” he said.
“Ignoring those real differences would disserve the purpose of the Equal Protection Clause, which is to safeguard the principle that ‘all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.’”
The court also rejected the plaintiff’s claim that the law is a violation of the “right to privacy,” requiring the disclosure of “sensitive medical information that would otherwise not be available.”
The court’s opinion was that the claim had no standing and quoted the defense who said: “An unlawful invasion of privacy does not occur simply because medical information is disclosed for a limited purpose, even when such disclosure is compelled by the state.”
However, the court granted DN the ability to amend complaints arguing for a Title IX violation and discrimination due to the fact that SB 1028 only prohibits biological men from competing in women’s sports and still allows biological women to play in men’s sports.
The deadline for the amended complaints was set for Nov. 21, 2023.
