Three female Connecticut track athletes have filed a federal discrimination complaint against a state policy that allows biological males to compete against females. The girls claim that the inclusion of athletes who claim to be female but are, in fact, biological males may have cost them top finishes in competitions and possible scholarships.
The complaint argues that the policy of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which allows males who identify as female to compete against biological females, is a violation of the girls’ rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The CIAC maintains that its policy echoes a state anti-discrimination law, which mandates that students be treated in school according to the gender with which they identify.
According to Title IX, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
The female athletes believe they have been excluded from opportunities to compete by the inclusion of biological males in female competition.
The law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed the complaint on behalf of the girls, two of whom refused to be named due to fear of retribution from transgender activists or coaches. The third girl, Selina Soule, has already been very public about her objection to competing against biological males and has described some of that retribution that the others fear.
“I’ve been vocal since earlier this winter, and my mother has been for about a year now,” Soule told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.
Soule has already been harmed by the CIAC policy, having missed out on the opportunity to compete in the New England Regionals by two spots — the spots taken by the biological male athletes who finished first and second in the race. The male athletes were allowed in the race because they “identified” as females.
While Soule maintains that most athletes have been supportive of her speaking out, school officials and coaches have been far less sympathetic. “I’ve gotten some very difficult requests for me to complete in practice and if I don’t fulfill these requests then I can’t compete at all,” Soule said. “And this never happened before. It only started after my parents met with the school principal.”
Soule’s mother, Bianca Stanescu, has been protesting the CIAC policy for more than a year. Last year, she began circulating a petition at track meets calling on the state legislature to require that athletes compete in high school sports based on their gender at birth, unless such athletes have undergone hormone therapy. The state legislature refused to act on the petition.
“We never got anywhere with the CIAC,” Stanescu told the Hartford Courant. “The genders are segregated for a reason. They might as well just say women don’t exist as a category.”
Rahsann Yearwood, the father of one of the males competing as a female, suggests that if Soule and other girls like her want track scholarships, they need to get faster. “I’m not a hundred percent sure how colleges recruit track athletes but my understanding is that they recruit based on times. If you don’t have college qualifying times, then colleges aren’t going to offer you a scholarship.”
The girls and ADF are asking the federal Department of Education to investigate the issue and rule on the legality of the CIAC’s transgender policy. From the complaint: “The Department of Education should make clear that this result, and thus this policy, is neither required nor allowed by Title IX, and should impose a remedy that protects the rights of Complainants and all similarly situated girls.”
“Girls like Selina should never be forced to be spectators in their own sports. But unfortunately, that is exactly what’s taking place when you allow biological males to compete in sports that have been set aside and specifically designed for women like Selina,” said Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for ADF who is working with Soule and the other athletes.
“Title IX was designed to ensure that girls have a fair shake in athletics and are not denied the opportunity to participate at the highest levels of competition.”
And the CIAC’s policy is demonstrably unfair to Connecticut’s young female athletes. To illustrate, one of the male athletes named in the complaint now holds the girl’s state records in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dash as well as the long jump. The same athlete holds multiple New England regional titles in several events.
This absurd situation is the result of PC culture run amok, and no one wants to address it for fear of being called a bigot by a tiny minority of science-denying people, who are only enabling a delusion. Nobody is denying the humanity of these boys who wish to be seen as girls. But real harm is being done to real young girls as a result of this state-sanctioned stupidity.
Image: PJPhoto69 via iStock / Getty Images Plus
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects with a primary focus on the ongoing climate change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached at [email protected].
