Federal judge rules 11-year-old Virginia boy can play on girls' tennis team, citing 'social isolation and stigma'

A U.S. district court judge ruled that a young boy who allegedly identifies as a girl shall be allowed to play for the girls' tennis team at his school.

A Hanover County middle school in Virginia is the subject of U.S. District Court Judge M. Hannah Lauck's decision that a young boy was excluded from a team on the basis of sex.

Judge Lauck declared that the plaintiff "established that the [school] Board excluded her, on the basis of sex, from participating in an education program when it denied her application to try out for (and if selected, to participate on) her school's girls' tennis team."

The child, who is being labeled as Janie Doe, had the lawsuit filed on his behalf with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

'This is child abuse & the parents belong in jail.'

The ACLU is alleging the school discriminated against the child by not allowing him to play on the team despite successfully trying out. This is in spite of the fact that Virginia law prohibits biological males from competing on girls' and women's athletics teams since the Save Women Sports Act was passed in 2021.

The judge added, among other claims, that the child would face "social isolation" and "stigma" if not allowed to play with girls, in part because it would become clear that he wasn't actually a girl:

"Because Janie Doe faces a litany of harms ranging from medical regression, social isolation and stigma, financial and logistical burdens, and the dignitary harms of either 'outing' her as transgender or communicating that transgender students are not welcomed or encouraged to participate in school athletics at all, Janie Doe has made more than a clear showing that the discrimination has harmed her," Lauck wrote, according to Fox News.

The judge was reportedly appointed by former President Barack Obama, per OutKick, and the injunction means the child can play on the girls' team as the lawsuit moves forward in court.

Women's sports activist Riley Gaines commented on the story, expressing shock while claiming the child has been on puberty blockers since the age of 7:

"These parents put their SEVEN yr old son on puberty blockers. They fraudulently changed his birth certificate to female. Now, an Obama-appointed judge has ruled that he can play tennis with the girls," Gaines wrote on X. "This is child abuse & the parents belong in jail."

The child has "identified as a girl since she was 7 years old," the Washington Post stated. Additionally, he was "diagnosed with gender dysphoria, has been placed on puberty blockers, and legally changed her name and birth certificate to reflect her sex as female," the outlet also reported.

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