Connecticut lawsuit dismissed, allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports

In a weekend-written decision, District Court Judge Robert Chatigny dismissed a lawsuit that would block transgender student-athletes from competing in school-sponsored track events in their identified genders. The lawsuit targets the policy of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) which allows transgender girls to compete without restrictions in their identified gender.

In February 2020, shortly before the global COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, businesses, and normal life everywhere in the United States, four Connecticut high school students filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunctionpreliminary injunctionA preliminary injunction is a temporary court order issued before a case is finally decided that requires a party to take or stop an action while the litigation continues. Federal courts generally consider the likelihood of success, irreparable harm, the balance of equities, and the public interest before granting one.Read more → to prevent two transgender girls from competing in the 2020 Spring Outdoor Track season. Plaintiffs Selina Soule and Chelsea Mitchell were both seniors at the time and have since graduated. The other two plaintiffs, Allana Smith and Ashley Nicoletti, are currently Juniors at their respective high schools.

Before filing the lawsuit, the plaintiffs filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) arguing that CIAC’s policy imposes a competitive disadvantage on cisgender girls and denies them rights that were guaranteed by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The OCR initiated an investigation but did not ultimately take action to prevent the two transgender individuals from competing. The plaintiffs continued to file the suit with the District Court.

The plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that the CIAC’s policy “will leave their concluding interscholastic athletics season marred and their personal experience substantially injured.” They continued in the complaint to misgender the defendants and state that the inclusion of transgender athletes “is now regularly resulting in boys displacing girls in competitive track events… critical to college recruiting.”

Apart from monetary relief, the plaintiffs requested a declaration from the defendants acknowledging that they had “violated Title IX by failing to provide competitive opportunities that effectively accommodate the abilities of girls … [and] fail[ed] to provide equal treatment, benefits, and opportunities.” They also requested that the defendants “remove male athletes from any record or recognition purporting to record times, victories, or qualifications for elite competitions designated for girls or women.”

United States District Judge Robert Chatigny ruled that the case no longer had an issue to resolve and was therefore moot because the two transgender students identified in the lawsuit had already graduated and therefore no longer competed in high school track events. Chatigny continued in his written dismissal that “there is no indication that Smith and Nicoletti will encounter competition by a transgender student in a CIAC-sponsored event next season,” but he did state, however, that the students could refile their request if a transgender girl registered to compete while they were still in high school.

In May 2016, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education released joint guidance to help schools, educators, and interscholastic leagues protect the civil rights of transgender students in their districts. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits schools that receive federal money from discriminating based on a student’s sex. The joint guidance made clear to schools that sex includes a student’s transgender status. Chatigny used this guidance to justify his decision and continued to argue that “Courts across the country have consistently held that Title IX requires schools to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.”

Joshua Block, the senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ and HIV Project commended the dismissal stating, “today’s ruling shows that allowing transgender students to fully participate in school – including sports – is consistent with existing federal law.”

A 2015 study found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals are 46- 76 percent less likely to participate in team sports than their same-sex heterosexual peers, and “intolerance to gender non-conformity was identified as a key barrier to participation.” In 2019, only 17 states in the United States allowed transgender high school student-athletes to compete without any restrictions in their identified gender. Eight other states allowed transgender student-athletes to compete but put severe restrictions on the students, such as requiring full reassignment procedures or hormonal therapy to be completed before competing.

Under the Trump administration, the OCR issued a Letter of Impending Enforcement Action to CIAC in support of the cisgender student-athlete plaintiffs. The OCR found that the CIAC’s policy “resulted in the loss of athletic benefits and opportunities for female student-athletes.” In late February 2021, the Biden administration withdrew federal support for the lawsuit by revoking the letter.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life” represents Chelsea Mitchell in the case. The organization has announced they plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.