The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal announced a joint lawsuit on Thursday challenging a law restricting transgender athletes in middle school and high school. This time, in Tennessee.
The lawsuit challenges SB 228, a law signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on March 26 that requires middle and high school students to participate in sports based on a student's sex "at the time of the student's birth, as indicated on the student's original birth certificate."
The law applies to students in grades 5-12.
"I signed the bill to preserve women's athletics and ensure fair competition," Gov. Lee tweeted after signing the bill. "This legislation responds to damaging federal policies that stand in opposition to the years of progress made under Title IX and I commend members of the General Assembly for their bipartisan work."
The ACLU is representing 14-year-old Luc Esquivel, a freshman at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Esquivel is a golfer and planned to try out of the boys' golf team at Farragut.
"I was really looking forward to trying out for the boys' golf team and, if I made it, training and competing with and learning from other boys and improving my game," Esquivel said in a statement. "Then, to have the legislature pass a law that singled out me and kids like me to keep us from being part of a team, that crushed me, it hurt very much. I just want to play, like any other kid."
Tennessee is one of 10 states that has codified restrictions for transgender athletes participating in sports.
Idaho first passed HB 500 in March 2020, though it was subsequently blocked in federal court. In 2021, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, West Virginia, Tennessee and Texas all enacted similar legislation affecting transgender students.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed executive orders outlining similar action. The litigation surrounding the laws is ongoing, with additional lawsuits filed in West Virginia and Florida.