Friday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by four cisgender high school girls who claimed that Connecticut’s transgender sports policy violated their civil rights.
The decision reaffirms the one made by a federal judge in April 2021 in the case, which argues that Connecticut’s high school sports authority and five school boards violated Title IX by allowing transgender students to participate in women’s sports. That judge argued that the lawsuit was moot because the transgender athletes specifically mentioned had graduated and there was “no indication” that the plaintiffs would compete against them again.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Selina Soule, Chelsea Mitchell, Alanna Smith, Ashley Nicoletti, and their mothers, appealed that decision and argued it in front of the appeals court in September.
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was not swayed by that argument and offered a pretty pointed response in their decision.
“All four plaintiffs regularly competed at state track championships as high school athletes, where plaintiffs had the opportunity to compete for state titles in different events. And, on numerous occasions, plaintiffs were indeed ‘champions,’ finishing first in various events, even sometimes when competing against (Andraya) Yearwood and (Terry) Miller,” the ruling reads, referring to the two transgender athletes, both of whom later joined the suit to defend the policy.
