This week read about a judge dropping an anti-trans athlete case in Connecticut, and a dispute over travel bans and religious exemptions between Texas and California.
SCOTUS Will Not Hear Travel Bans, Religious Exemptions Dispute Between Texas and California
The Supreme Court has chosen not to settle a dispute between the country’s two most populous states over travel bans and religious exemptions.
In 2017, California passed legislation prohibiting state funds from being used to travel to states with anti-LGBT legislation on the books, including Texas, Alabama, and Kentucky. In response, Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton petitioned for the Supreme Court to hear the case directly, citing the court’s obligations to intervene in states’ conflicts.
Texas was added to the list over a 2017 Texas law that allows child welfare organizations to refuse services to people due to religious beliefs, allowing for discrimination against LGBT couples.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented from the majority decision to not challenge California’s policy. In the dissent, Alito wrote that when they became states, California and Texas “acquired the right to have their disputes with other States adjudicated by the Nation’s highest court. The Court now denies Texas that right.”
Connecticut Judge Dismisses Anti-Trans Athlete Lawsuit
Photo via PxHere.
A lawsuit that sought to ban transgender girls from playing on high school teams that align with their gender identity has been dismissed by a federal judge.
After their initial complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights was denied, the lawsuit was launched against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference by the parents of three students, who alleged that trans girls had an unfair advantage over their daughters.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny dismissed the case on the grounds that the two trans athletes whom the lawsuit initially targeted already graduated, and the plaintiffs couldn’t identify any potential transgender athletes that they could compete against.
Elana Bildner, staff attorney for the ACLU of Connecticut, said, “The dismissal of this meritless lawsuit is a victory for trans youth in Connecticut and across the country, and it would not have been possible without incredible bravery from Andraya and Terry, who have carried more on their shoulders as two Black trans youth than most adults face in a lifetime.”
