Arizona’s ban on transgender girls playing girls school team sports remains blocked, court says

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower-court ruling that blocks Arizona from enforcing a 2022 law that bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that the lower-court didn’t make an error in concluding that, before puberty, there are no significant differences between boys and girls in athletic performance. The panel concluded the law, on its face, discriminates based on transgender status. The ruling applies only to two transgender girls whose parents challenged the law. The case will be sent back to the lower court, and the law will remain blocked while the case is litigated.