Current:Home > MarketsCourt revives lawsuit over Connecticut rule allowing trans girls to compete in school sports-LoTradeCoin
Court revives lawsuit over Connecticut rule allowing trans girls to compete in school sports
View Date:2024-12-23 22:28:40
NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents of Connecticut’s policy letting transgender girls compete in girls high school sports will get a second chance to challenge it in court, an appeals court ruled Friday, which revived the case without weighing in on its merits.
Both sides called it a win. The American Civil Liberties Union said it welcomes a chance to defend the rights of the two transgender high school track runners it represents. The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the four cisgender athletes who brought the lawsuit, also said it looks forward to seeking a ruling on the case’s merits.
In a rare full meeting of all active judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, judges found the cisgender runners have standing to sue and have described injuries that might qualify for monetary damages. The runners also seek to alter certain athletic records, alleging they were deprived of honors and opportunities at elite track-and-field events because they say “male athletes” were permitted to compete against them.
The case had been dismissed by a Connecticut judge in 2021, and that decision was affirmed by three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit a year ago.
At least 20 states have approved a version of a blanket ban on transgender athletes playing on K-12 and collegiate sports teams statewide, but a Biden administration proposal to forbid such outright bans is set to be finalized by March after two delays and much pushback. As proposed, the rule announced in April would establish that blanket bans would violate Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.
Under the proposal, it would be much more difficult for schools to ban, for example, a transgender girl in elementary school from playing on a girls basketball team. But it would also leave room for schools to develop policies that prohibit trans athletes from playing on more competitive teams if those policies are designed to ensure fairness or prevent sports-related injuries.
In a statement Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut cast the ruling as a victory for the two runners they represent — Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller — noting that the 2nd Circuit wrote that the transgender runners have an “ongoing interest in litigating against any alteration of their public athletic records.”
Roger Brooks, a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the decision was a victory “not only for the women who have been deprived of medals, potential scholarships, and other athletic opportunities, but for all female athletes across the country.”
In 2020, the Alliance sued on behalf of four athletes — Selina Soule, Chelsea Mitchell, Alanna Smith, and Ashley Nicoletti — over what it describes as a Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference policy letting males who identify as female compete in girls’ athletic events.
Three of 15 judges who heard arguments earlier this year fully dissented on Friday, while five other judges dissented to portions of the majority ruling.
In a dissent to the majority ruling, Circuit Judge Denny Chin noted that three of the cisgender athletes alleged that only one track event in their high school careers were affected by the participation of transgender athletes while a fourth athlete alleged that four championship races were affected.
In a footnote, Chin wrote that all four plaintiffs currently compete on collegiate track-and-field teams, some after being awarded scholarships, while neither of the transgender athletes who intervened in the case have competed since high school.
And he pointed out that no one was able to cite any precedent in which a sports governing body retroactively stripped an athlete of accomplishments when the athlete complied with all existing rules and did not cheat or take an illegal substance.
“It is not the business of the federal courts to grant such relief,” Chin said.
___
Associated Press Writer Pat Eaton-Robb in Columbia, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
veryGood! (57376)
Related
- New York nursing home operator accused of neglect settles with state for $45M
- No. 1 pick Connor Bedard scores first career goal in slick play vs. Boston Bruins
- Abreu homers again to power Astros past Twins 3-2 and into 7th straight ALCS
- Political action committee fined in Maryland for text message without identifying line
- RHOBH's Kyle Richards Addresses PK Kemsley Cheating Rumors in the Best Way Possible
- Powerball ticket sold in California wins $1.765 billion jackpot, second-biggest in U.S. lottery history
- 'The Fall of the House of Usher' is Poe-try in motion
- Kesha Is Seeking a Sugar Daddy or a Baby Daddy After Getting Dumped for the First Time
- How to Build Your Target Fall Capsule Wardrobe: Budget-Friendly Must-Haves for Effortless Style
- Blinken meets Hamas attack survivors, pledges US support on trip to Israel
Ranking
- How Saturday Night Live Reacted to Donald Trump’s Win Over Kamala Harris
- Social Security recipients will get a smaller increase in benefits as inflation cools
- October Prime Day deals spurred shopping sprees among Americans: Here's what people bought
- UN envoy: Colombian president’s commitments to rural reforms and peace efforts highlight first year
- Texas’ 90,000 DACA recipients can sign up for Affordable Care Act coverage — for now
- What to know about the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment
- Newsom signs laws to fast-track housing on churches’ lands, streamline housing permitting process
- Iowa man dies after becoming trapped inside a grain bin
Recommendation
-
Judge hears case over Montana rule blocking trans residents from changing sex on birth certificate
-
Why the world's water system is becoming 'increasingly erratic'
-
Florida citrus forecast improves over last year when hurricanes hit state
-
Mom of Israeli-American soldier killed in Hamas terror attack: You will live on forever in my heart.
-
Trump announces Tom Homan, former director of immigration enforcement, will serve as ‘border czar’
-
Transgender residents in North Carolina, Montana file lawsuits challenging new state restrictions
-
John Cena's Super-Private Road to Marrying Shay Shariatzadeh
-
Peter Thomas Roth Flash Deal: Get $156 Worth of Retinol for $69 and Reduce Wrinkles Overnight