Several advocacy groups are urging Pennsylvania’s high school sports association to reconsider its policies on sex and gender-based participation.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) revoked its policy on transgender student participation last month, instead approving a new policy that complies with President Trump’s executive order targeting transgender athletes.
The new PIAA provisions require schools to “consult with their school solicitors” when a student’s sex is questioned or uncertain. Kristina Moon, a senior attorney at the Education Law Center, said the changes violate state and federal civil rights protections for transgender students.
“To have this group targeted for political purposes and scapegoated is really damaging and really flies in the face of the equitable opportunities that our public schools are required to provide under the law,” Moon said.
Moon, alongside the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania and several other groups, co-signed a letter authored by the Women's Law Project to PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi. They pointed to civil rights protections laid out in Pennsylvania’s Human Relations Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex — including gender identity and expression.
Shortly after President Trump’s initial flurry of executive orders targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to upholding the PHRA and other state anti-discrimination laws.
“Regardless of what happens nationally, Pennsylvanians can be assured that under Pennsylvanian laws, they are protected,” said PHRC Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter.
The groups’ letter to PIAA also cites provisions in the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibiting sex discrimination.
“We have school districts that understand their obligation under state and federal law to provide affirming, inclusive opportunities for all students to play sports, and now are confused and thinking that they can't participate in PIAA [competitions] if PIAA takes a discriminatory approach,” Moon said.
Moon and others have asked PIAA to clarify its policies and issue new guidance to school districts as its current policy “misconstrues the force of executive orders and ignores clear federal and state legal protections for transgender students.”
The executive order the policy is based on is currently pending review as part of a New Hampshire lawsuit filed by two transgender high schoolers barred from participating in school sports.
Title IX debates evolve
Trump’s executive order also rescinds Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students issued under the Biden administration to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Federal officials struggled to carry out those protections after a federal judge in Kansas issued an injunction to block their enforcement in schools where students’ parents are members of the conservative grassroots group Moms for Liberty.
The ruling extended to elementary, middle and high schools in Fox Chapel; four Baldwin-Whitehall schools; three Seneca Valley schools; and Marzolf Primary in Shaler.
At the time, former Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry submitted a series of court briefs defending Biden’s regulations. While Governor Josh Shapiro took a similar position while in the role, opposing sports bans and supporting bathroom rights, current AG Dave Sunday has largely been quiet on LGBTQ+ issues.
Sunday’s office didn't immediately respond to a request to comment.
Neither did PIAA, though attorneys with the nonprofit told a U.S. District Court judge in Philadelphia on Tuesday that it sided “with the relief” sought by a student who requested a restraining order to bar transgender students from participating in girls’ sports.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, PIAA attorneys told the court that while it would not endorse the Quakertown student’s argument for a ban, the organization did agree with the outcome she sought.
The Inquirer reported that, when questioned about the contradiction, attorney Dana Childson said PIAA was being “very careful” in its public statements.
WESA’s Tom Reise contributed to this report.
