In March, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a bill (SB 228/HB 3) that bans trans students from participating in school sports. Two federal courts have blocked similar laws in Idaho and West Virginia, while a federal court in Connecticut has dismissed a challenge to that state’s policies that supports participation for trans students. Luc, along with his parents, have sued Tennessee because he is now denied the opportunity to try out for the boy’s golf team.

I was introduced to golf when I was about to turn 11. My mom took me to a golf clinic for kids at a local driving range. I got a free golf lesson from a coach and right away I was so hooked that my parents signed me up for weekly lessons. At the time, all I knew was I had fun and wanted to have a sport to get better at and was having a hard time finding one. I had tried soccer and basketball, but I was not interested in those sports and wanted to try and find something I liked better.

Over time, after getting better at hitting the ball and putting, it just got fun trying to work on my aim and technique. When I was in 7th grade, I found out there was a golf team at my school and I thought it would be good to have a team to play with. I wanted to get tips and watch other people play and see what I would have to improve on or what I was doing right.

After playing with the girl’s golf team previously, it started to feel wrong because I did not feel like I fit in with them, even though they were all kind to me. I felt out of place. It wasn’t just that I wanted to wear pants when all the girls on the team wanted to wear skirts — I felt awkward and knew this wasn’t the team for me. I am a boy, and I want to be on the boys’ golf team so I can play among other boys.

Shawn Poynter/ACLU

My favorite experience playing on the team was when we were in a competition against other schools. We did not win the whole competition, but there were also prizes we could win on specific holes. My best friend L. and I both won prizes that day. I was so proud of myself and L., and our whole team!

Since Tennessee’s ban on trans kids in sports passed, the main reason I’m suing the state is because it bothers me a lot to think some kids won’t play sports at all and other kids could feel as out of place as I did, especially if they aren’t on a team with their best friend like I was. It’s depressing to imagine other kids feeling so out of place and without a friend.

I have a strong peace of mind when I think how my parents are there to help me with golf, the lawsuit, and life. Filing this lawsuit lets me say that I feel disrespected and mistreated. I can’t control the law that was passed, but just because it was passed, it doesn’t mean it was right. I have standards for how I want to be treated. I want to be respected. That’s what my parents want, and it’s what I feel my peers would want. What the state has done has not even come close to those standards.

To other trans youth: I want to tell you to fight for what you believe is right and to stand up for yourself. Nothing gets done if you don’t do anything about it.

There are 13 churches in Horn Lake, Mississippi. But there are no mosques, and there never will be if city officials get their way. Earlier this year, the city’s Planning Commission and Board of Aldermen denied site-plan approval for the Abraham House of God mosque, even though the property for the proposed mosque is zoned for houses of worship and the city’s own staff determined that the application met or exceeded all requirements. One Alderman ominously warned, “if you let them build it, they will come,” exhorting his fellow board members to “stop it before it gets here.”

This type of bigotry has no place in our government. It violates the law, so the ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi, along with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, filed a federal lawsuit against the city today. Brought on behalf of Abraham House of God and its co-founders, the lawsuit asserts that Horn Lake officials violated the First Amendment and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which provides heightened legal protections for houses of worship in local zoning proceedings.

Not only is there no mosque in Horn Lake, but there is no mosque within all of DeSoto County (the third largest Mississippi county by population) where Horn Lake sits. Without a local mosque, Muslim residents of the Horn Lake region, including our clients Riyadh Elkhayyat and Maher Abuirshaid and their families, must travel 35 to 40 minutes each way, across state lines, to worship communally at a mosque in neighboring Tennessee. It’s a significant hardship on their ability to practice their faith. For example, Friday is the Muslim holy day; it is observed during Friday afternoon worship services. But the families are often unable to attend these services because of the distance they must travel to reach the Tennessee mosque. More generally, because there is no local mosque, Muslim residents in the area have been unable to establish a local congregation to enjoy the type of spiritual bonds and close support system with their neighbors that a local church or other house of worship typically helps facilitate.

Wanting better for themselves and their families, Mr. Elkhayyat and Mr. Abuirshaid felt a religious calling to open a mosque closer to home. They established the Abraham House of God as a non-profit religious organization; purchased a piece of Horn Lake property already zoned for houses of worship; hired an architect and engineering firm to design the mosque; and submitted all the required paperwork to the city.

Unfortunately, the anti-Muslim backlash was immediate. After one planning commission meeting, one person told Mr. Elkhayyat and Mr. Abuirshaid that they would only be allowed to build a mosque “over our dead bodies.” At another meeting, one resident asserted that, as Muslims, Mr. Elkhayyat and Mr. Abuirshaid “are not subject to our laws, they’re subject to their laws.” Though city staff reported that the site plan application met or exceeded all requirements, the commission voted against it, offering no reason except “majority rules.” The “majority” that ruled was presumably the anti-Muslim group of residents that had gathered at the meeting.

The mosque appealed the planning commission’s decision to the Horn Lake Board of Aldermen. That meeting, too, was packed with an audience opposed to the house of worship. During the meeting, board members asserted that the mosque would violate local noise ordinances because of speakers announcing the call to prayer. In fact, the design plans did not include any outdoor speakers, and Mr. Elkhayyat repeatedly told the board there would be none. Board members also claimed that the mosque would create traffic hazards. But that wasn’t true. Finally, one board member contended that the city water mains would not provide adequate water pressure for a sprinkler system for the mosque. There was no evidence to support his claim, and there are various methods for ensuring that the mosque has adequate protection against fires.

All three excuses that the board cited for shutting down the mosque project were pretexts meant to distract from the only true reason the Board offered: the fear that, “if you build it, they will come.” Then-Alderman John Jones, who made the anti-Muslim comment during the board’s hearing, later raged, “I don’t care what they say, their religion says they can lie or do anything to the Jews or gentiles because we’re not Muslims.” And, in case there was any doubt that anti-Muslim prejudice was at the heart of the city’s actions, a few days later, another alderman, Charlie Roberts, admitted that the board had “stepped over the line” by discriminating against the mosque, Mr. Elkhayyat, and Mr. Abuirshaid “because they’re Muslims.”

Roberts, who voted against the site plan but had a change of heart after visiting a mosque in Memphis, called Mr. Elkhayyat to apologize for the board’s bigotry. He also texted a message to Mr. Elkhayyat: “M-Muslims D-Deserve W-Worship.” We could not agree more. Sadly, this is not the only instance of local government officials discriminating against mosques. We will do everything in our power to vindicate our clients’ rights and ensure that Muslims in the Horn Lake area can worship at the Abraham House of God as soon as possible.