A federal court upheld four female high school track athletes’ challenge to a Connecticut policy allowing male participation in female sports.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Chatigny, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, ruled in favor of allowing the athletes’ case against the Connecticut Association of Schools to proceed, rejecting the request of state officials to dismiss it.
The athletes—Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, Chelsea Mitchell, and Ashley Nicoletti—all say they lost races to male athletes identifying as female. The women argue allowing biological males to compete in girls sports is unfair and violates federal Title IX, which protects female school sports by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Women’s rights matter,” Mitchell said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “I’m proud to fight for not just my rights, but also those of women athletes across the country who deserve to compete on a level playing field. I hope the court protects the integrity of women’s sports now and for the foreseeable future.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the women in Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools.
“Selina, Chelsea, Alanna, and Ashley—like all female athletes—deserve access to fair competition,” Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Rachel Rouleau said in a statement. “The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy degraded each of their accomplishments and scarred their athletic records, irreparably harming each female athlete’s interest in accurate recognition of her athletic achievements.”
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rightly rejected the state’s request to dismiss the case, according to Rouleau.
“This ruling creates one fewer obstacle for high school girls to face as they pursue their athletic dreams,” she said.
Track athlete Soule said she is encouraged by the court’s order allowing the case to continue.
“Female athletes like myself deserve fairness and safety in our sports,” Soule said. “I hope the court will uphold common sense and Title IX’s guarantee that women’s sports stay just for women.”
Almost three-quarters of voters say they believe medals awarded to biological men who beat females in sports should be given instead to the women who lost.
Female athletes worldwide have lost nearly 900 medals to transgender-identifying rivals competing against them in women’s sporting categories, according to a United Nations report.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to “ban” transgender-identifying biological males from competing in women’s sports.
“I’ve never met a person that came up to me and they say, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,’” Trump said during his successful campaign. “Somehow, they’re pushing it. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve been talking about this for a while, because I’m ending it. On Day One, I’m ending it.”
