Equality Arlington, AGIA, and Partners Launch “Right 2 Play VA” Campaign for Trans Athletes
In February 2025, the Virginia High School League (VHSL) caved to pressure from the federal government and Youngkin administration and adopted a blanket ban prohibiting transgender girls from playing on girls high school sports teams. This policy violates the Virginia Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and ensures that students can fully participate in school activities.
Equality Arlington and the Arlington Gender Identity Alliance (AGIA), in coalition with community partners, has a launched a “Right 2 Play VA” campaign calling on VHSL to repeal this discriminatory policy and engage in a transparent process to enact a policy that makes sense for all students. Learn more about this issue from the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below and sign on to the letter calling on VHSL to end the ban and let all students play sports.
Letter sign on: https://tinyurl.com/Right2playVA
Fairness and Equity: Transgender Athlete Participation in High School Sports in Virginia
Frequently Asked Questions
The content below was developed in collaboration across parents and organizations representing LGBTQ+ youth in Northern Virginia and beyond. For questions, please reach out to campaignright2playva@gmail.com.
Key Definitions
Transgender girl = an individual whose assigned sex at birth was male and who identifies as a girl. Depending on age and individual circumstances, the individual may or may not be on puberty blockers and/or hormones.
Transgender boy = an individual whose assigned sex at birth was female and who identifies as a boy. Depending on age and individual circumstances, the individual may or may not be on puberty blockers and/or hormones.
Non-binary individual = an individual whose assigned sex at birth may be either male or female and who does not identify as either male or female. The individual may use they/them or alternative pronouns. Depending on age and individual circumstances, the individual may or not be on puberty blockers and/or hormones.
Cisgender individual = an individual whose gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth.
1: Why are sports important to youth development, including the development of transgender youth?
Sports provide a number of benefits for youth who participate.[1] Evidence demonstrates that sports participation leads to better health outcomes as a result of increased physical activity, including lower rates of obesity. Sports participation also supports academic achievement, with youth who participate in sports more likely to graduate from high school and thrive in academic endeavors. Finally, the sense of belonging that youth sports engenders brings innumerable mental health benefits, including improved psychosocial development, self-confidence, and connectedness to community. Transgender youth deserve to access the same benefits that come with youth sport participation as their cisgender peers.
[1] Project Play, Youth Sports Facts: Benefits, https://projectplay.org/youth-sports/facts/benefits
2: Does allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports teams pose a safety risk for cisgender girls or an unfair competitive advantage for transgender girls?
No. In Virginia, transgender girls were allowed to participate on girls’ high school sports teams from 2014-2025. In that time period, there is no single documented instance of a safety issue resulting from this policy.
Existing data suggests that categorical physical differences do not exist between transgender and cisgender athletes for transgender girls who are on puberty blockers and/or hormone therapy.[1] Emerging evidence suggests that this holds for transgender girls who begin hormone therapy after going through male puberty.[2] Moreover, while athletes’ size and strength affect injuries, safety is also dependent on many other factors, including age, nutrition, access to training, and puberty. Contact sports always carry the risk of injury. Good coaches and trainers teach athletes how to reduce the risk of injury.
Unfair competitive advantages across student athletes already exist as a result of a variety of structural, biological, and socioeconomic factors. Access to resources for additional coaching and participation in costly travel teams, for example, give many athletes a leg up over less-resourced competitors.[3] In this context, where a certain level of unfair competitive advantage is assumed in youth sports, bans on one small category of athletes in the name of fairness are hard to justify.[4]
[1] See, e.g., Blair Hamilton, et al., Strength, Power and Aerobic Capacity of Transgender Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study, 58 Br. J. Sports Med. 586 (2024); Joanna Harper, et al., How Does Hormone Transition in Transgender Women Change Body Composition, Muscle Strength and
Haemoglobin? Systematic Review with a Focus on the Implications for Sport Participation, 55 Br. J. Sports Med. 865 (2021); Dan Roan & Katie Falkingham, Transgender Athletes: What do the Scientists Say? BBC News (May 11, 2022), https://www.bbc.com/sport/61346517; Joanna Harper, Transgender Athletes and International Sports Policy, 85 Law and Contemporary Problems 151 (2022).
[2] While earlier research focused on transgender girls who began transition before puberty, new research also suggests that transgender girls and women who went through male puberty, but then began taking estrogen also do not have the clear advantages over cisgender girls in sports. Hamilton B, Brown A, Montagner-Moraes S, et al, Strength, power and aerobic capacity of transgender athletes: a cross-sectional study, British Journal of Sports Medicine 2024;58:586-597.
[3] Marisa Conniers, Fact vs Fiction: Breaking Down the Truth about Trans Women in Sports (Feminist Majority Foundation) 2025, https://feminist.org/news/fact-vs-fiction-breaking-down-the-truth-about-trans-women-in-sports
[4] Ellie Roscher and Dr. Anna Baeth, Fair Game Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports (The New Press, New York, 2026).
3: If athletic leagues do not issue bans on transgender athlete participation, are there other ways they could ensure that no one takes advantage of the transgender participation rules to gain an unfair advantage?
Yes. It is the job of local athletic associations to set policies for fair, safe, and equitable participation in sports. This means balancing competing priorities. While athletic associations do not have license to discriminate against any athlete or group of athletes, they should have discretion to respond to the needs of the community. Many localities have adopted commonsense rules for transgender athlete participation that balance the rights of transgender athletes with the need to ensure that no athlete is allowed to game the rules to seek an unfair competitive advantage.
For example, the Maine Human Rights Act bars discrimination based on gender identity, including in school sports. The Maine Principals’ Association 2026-2027 Handbook has a clear policy allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports teams after a confidential approval process to verify the student’s gender identity that is conducted only with the student’s school.[1] No medical records or official documents are required to establish a student’s gender identity. Similarly, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Handbook allows transgender athletes to participate on the sports team that aligns with their gender identity as long as the Superintendent is notified and the student’s school determines eligibility.[2]
These policies ensure that the pathway for participation on a sports team that does not align with an athlete’s sex at birth is limited, fair, and equitable. The Maine and New York policies are far more streamlined than the onerous process currently in place in Virginia for transgender boys and discussed more below.
[1] Maine Principals Association, 2026-27 Handbook, https://www.mpa.cc/resources/About%20Us/Handbook.pdf
[2] New York State Public High School Athletic Association Handbook, https://nysphsaa.org/documents/2023/8/21//NYSPHSAA_Handbook_Aug_2025.pdf
4: Could transgender girls form their own sports teams instead of competing on teams with cisgender girls?
No. Not only is the concept of “separate but equal” anathema to civil rights and the principles of inclusion,[1] there simply are not enough transgender athletes in any sport in any school to create separate teams. Transgender people are generally estimated to make up only 1-2% of the population. Many transgender students decide not to participate in sports because they see school sports as an unfriendly space and find themselves facing harassment and bullying from people who don’t understand their gender identity.[2] Therefore, the number of transgender students wanting to play sports in a school district might be only one or two students—not nearly enough to field a sports team. In West Virginia, the student at issue in the U.S. Supreme Court case was the only known transgender student in the state. Even at the college level, The NCAA president testified before Congress in 2025 that there were fewer than 10 transgender collegiate athletes in the whole country.[3]
[1] The Williams Institute, The Impact of Transgender Sports Participation Bans on Transgender People in the U.S., (2025), https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Trans-Sports-Ban-EO-Feb-2025.pdf
[2] CDC, Disparities in School Connectedness, Unstable Housing, Experiences of Violence, Mental Health, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Cisgender High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023 (2024), https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7304a6.htm?s_cid=su7304a6_e&ACSTrackingID=USCDC_921-DM138032&ACSTrackingLabel=MMWR%20Supplement%20%E2%80%93%20Vol.%2073%2C%20October%208%2C%202024&deliveryName=USCDC_921-DM138032
[3] GLAAD, Fact Sheet: Transgender Participation in Sports, https://glaad.org/fact-sheet-for-reporters-transgender-participation-in-sports/
5: How do bans on transgender youth participation in sports negatively impact cisgender kids?
Prohibiting transgender athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity harms all student athletes. These types of blanket prohibitions create an environment of suspicion and policing among teammates, competitors, and coaches, which not only harms transgender students, but harms any student whose gender presentation may differ from traditional gender norms.
6: What does the current Virginia High School League (VHSL) transgender athlete policy say?
The VHSL is a non-profit entity that sets the rules and regulations for high school athletics in Virginia public schools. Public schools opt into membership in VHSL, but because there are no competing statewide leagues, abiding by VHSL rules is the only way public schools ensure student athletes can compete with other public high school athletes in the state. In February 2025, the VHSL abruptly ended its more inclusive policy with regard to transgender athletes and instituted a blanket ban on transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports teams via an emergency amendment to its manual. The current policy continues to permit transgender boys to participate on boys’ teams after an extensive appeals process to the league (from 2014 until February 2025 when VHSL instituted the ban on transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports, the appeals process applied to transgender boys and girls).[1]
[1] The current transgender policy is found in Section 28A-8-1 of the VHSL 2026-27 Handbook and Policy Manual, https://www.vhsl.org/about-vhsl/
7: What is the appeals process for transgender boys to participate in school sports aligning with their gender identity and should VHSL just reinstate that policy for transgender girls?
The current appeals process for transgender boys (and that up until 2025 also applied to transgender girls) is onerous and requires submission of very personal information totally unrelated to sports participation. The student or their parents first contact their school principal to initiate the appeal to participate on a team that aligns with the student’s gender identity. The appeal is then reviewed by a District Committee who reviews the case and conducts a hearing. Following a hearing, the VHSL Executive Director may either issue a final decision on whether the transgender athlete can compete after reviewing the application and documentation or refer the decision to a vote by the entire VHSL Executive Committee. The student athlete must submit extensive documentation to prove that they are in fact transgender, including a personal statement, letters from family or teachers, a medication list, and a physician’s letter.
This process is burdensome and not tethered to ensuring fair and equitable participation. As discussed above, there are other ways that athletic leagues can ensure that no athlete is allowed to game participation policies for an unfair competitive advantage. The student’s school is the closest entity to the student and the review should be centered at that school. This will also help to mitigate privacy concerns by limiting the number of people who have access to sensitive student information.
8: How does the VHSL policy apply to non-binary students?
The policy is centered on a student’s assigned sex at birth. If a non-binary student wanted to play on a girls’ or boys’ sports team not aligned with their assigned sex at birth, the rules above would apply.
9: What process do cisgender athletes have to follow to join or try out for a high school sports team in Virginia?
Cisgender athletes have only to complete the sports registration material and have a doctor verify that they are medically eligible to play sports.
10: What did the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2026 say about participation of transgender athletes in girls’ sports?
In June 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox that West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws barring transgender girls from playing on a girls sport team did not violate federal civil rights law. While the decision upholds state laws in West Virginia, Idaho, and other states with similar bans, the Court leaves the decision of how and whether to legislate in this area to the states, leaving in place state laws that require or allow transgender athletes to participate on the sports team that aligns with their gender identity.[1]
[1] Amy Howe, Court Rules that States Can Exclude Transgender Athletes from Girls and Womens Sports Teams, ScotusBlog (2026), https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-rules-that-states-can-exclude-transgender-athletes-from-girls-and-womens-sports-teams/.
11: Does the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) protect against discrimination based on gender identity in school sports?
Yes. The VHRA protects all Virginians from unlawful discrimination because of gender identity in places of public accommodation, including educational institutions.[1] By publishing and enforcing a ban on transgender student participation on sports teams that align with their gender identity, VHSL, a non-profit entity, is also violating the public accommodations protections in the VHRA.
[1] ACLU of Virginia, Equality Virginia, and National Women’s Law Center, Civil Rights Groups Call on VHSL to Reverse Trans Sports Ban in Virginia (May 2025), https://nwlc.org/resource/civil-rights-groups-call-on-vhsl-to-reverse-trans-sports-ban-in-virginia/
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