Oral arguments are set to begin Thursday in a case involving four female athletes who challenged a Connecticut policy that allows males who identify as female to compete in girls’ athletic events.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing 4 female track athletes, said in a press release ahead of arguments that the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy resulted in males who identify as female “consistently depriving” the women of honors and opportunities to compete at elite levels.
The group argues, for instance, that the young women were denied medals and/or advancement opportunities. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on April 25, 2021, but the plaintiffs have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
ADF Senior Counsel Christiana Kiefer told Fox News Digital, “What we’re arguing before the court …. is that the court should allow this case to move forward, that girls should be able to make their case in court and demonstrate that males coming in and dominating girls’ sports is a clear violation of Title IX.”
The ACLU is among those defending two transgender student athletes who have since graduated from Connecticut high schools.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny dismissed the lawsuit in April on procedural grounds, saying in the ruling that there was no dispute to resolve because the two transgender athletes have graduated, and the plaintiffs could not identify other female transgender athletes.