Under Deadline: Connecticut Could Lose Federal Dollars for High Schools If It Doesn’t Rescind ‘Transgender’ Athletes Policy

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that Connecticut’s policy allowing “transgender” athletes — boys who pretend to be girls — to compete against girls in sports violates Title IX. The policy deprives female athletes of equal opportunity in education.

The decision was the result of a complaint filed by Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell, three high school girls who run track. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) was named in the complaint. The girls also filed a lawsuit against the state.

The OCR announced that high schools could lose federal funding if the state continues to allow this violation. From Christian Headlines:

CIAC policy allows biological boys who identify as girls to compete in girls-only events, even if they have not taken testosterone-suppressing hormones as is required on the NCAA and international levels. Transgender girls in Connecticut have won 15 state track titles.

The Department of Education letter – as Christian Headlines previously reported – claims the policy violated Title IX because female athletes were “denied the opportunity to compete in events that were exclusively female” whereas male athletes were “able to compete in events that were exclusively male.”

But the letter also threatens CIAC and districts with a loss in federal funding. Negotiations and conversations with the CIAC and the districts failed to reach an agreement, the Department of Education letter says.

Christian Headlines reported that the OCR and CIAC failed to reach an agreement on the matter. The CIAC has 20 days, starting on May 15, to change the policy.

One of the track runners, Chelsea Mitchell, would have won the state championship in the 55-meter indoor track competition last year, but two boys won first and second place. Here’s how she reacted to the OCR’s decision:

“I am extremely happy and relieved to learn that OCR found the CIAC and the school districts violated Title IX. It feels like we are finally headed in the right direction, and that we will be able to get justice for the countless girls along with myself that have faced discrimination for years. It is liberating to know that my voice, my story, my loss, has been heard; that those championships I lost mean something. Finally, the government has recognized that women deserve the right to compete for victory, and nothing less.”

Many would argue that boys shouldn’t be allowed to compete with girls even if they’re taking testosterone-suppressing hormones. Women across the country will need to boycott the very idea of competing against biological males (and inevitably losing). With no women to compete in women’s sports, there would be no women’s sports. Only then might lawmakers rescind these policies.

Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom