(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the Minnesota State High School League from enforcing a rule barring boys from joining their high schools’ competitive dance teams.
Reversing a lower court ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the two 11th-grade boys who brought the case had “more than a fair chance” of showing that the ban violated their equal protection rights under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The court also said the league had not shown an “exceedingly persuasive” justification to restrict participation to girls, and that the negative public consequences of letting boys try out will be slight, if any.
Wednesday’s 3-0 decision ordered a preliminary injunction against the rule, and returned the case to the lower court.
The league is an association of Minnesota high schools that oversees extracurricular activities and sports in the state. A lawyer for the league did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis