On Monday, a federal appeals court said it would reconsider a lawsuit challenging a policy in Connecticut that allows male-bodied “transgender” athletes to compete against women in high school sports.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals announced on Monday that the majority of its judges agreed to rehear the case. According to The Hill, the lawsuit alleges that the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) policy that allows transgender athletes to compete is discriminatory against “cisgender” women and girls. Alliance Defending Freedom represented four female high school athletes, Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, Chelseea Mitchell, and Ashley Nicoletti, who were robbed of opportunities because of the policy.
“Selina, Chelsea, Alanna, and Ashley—like all female athletes—deserve access to fair competition. We’re pleased the 2nd Circuit has decided to rehear this important case, and we urge the court to protect women’s athletic opportunities. Eighteen states have enacted laws that protect women and girls from having to compete against males, and polls show that a majority of Americans agree that the competition is no longer fair when males are permitted to compete in women’s sports,” ADF Senior Counsel Christiana Kiefer said in a statement.
“Every woman deserves the respect and dignity that comes with having an equal opportunity to excel and win in athletics, and ADF remains committed to protecting the future of women’s sports.” Kiefer added.
ADF’s website explains that in 2017, two male athletes began competing in Connecticut girls’ high school track. In the span of three years, the two boys broke 17 records competing against girls and “deprived girls of more than 85 opportunities to advance to the next level of competition” and took home 15 women’s state championship titles. Mitchell, one of the plaintiffs, has earned four of those titles.
“Over the course of her high school career, Mitchell lose to these males more than 20 times,” ADF noted.
According to Reuters, the lawsuit was originally heard by a panel of three judges on the 2nd Circuit in September. In December, the panel rejected claims by the four female athletes that they missed out on opportunities because they competed against transgender athletes.
Reportedly, Circuit Judge Denny Chin wrote that the plaintiffs had not shown that they missed out on opportunities because they regularly competed in state track championships and came in first place many times.