Allowing transgender girls to participate in school sports with girls who are not transgender is a violation of federal law, and if not stopped in 20 days, Connecticut risks losing federal education funding. . This is the decision of the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education, made public Thursday in a report by Associated Press.

False, says the American Civil Liberties Union; one of her fiercest advocates for transgender Americans has called the decision nothing more than another example of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ political agenda of discrimination, specifically targeting transgender girls and flouting their rights .

“Today’s discovery, which is not a legal decision, represents yet another attack by the Trump administration on transgender students,” Chase Strangio said in a statement Thursday. He is the Deputy Director of Trans Justice, with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project. “Since 2017, the DeVos Department of Education has made transgender students a constant goal. Once again, the administration is wrong with the law and we will continue to stand up for trans students under Title IX and the Constitution. Trans students have a place in our schools, including on sports teams, and we will not back down in this fight. “

What is Title IX?

Title IX, the Federal Civil Rights Act 1972 which prohibits gender discrimination in schools that receive federal funding, is cited by both sides in this ongoing battle. And because of that, it can be confusing for parents and school officials to know what this decision really means for kids who, after all, just want to play sports, and for these events to be fair. .

Just for whom, is the question.

The policy in place in Connecticut since 2013, allowing transgender students to participate in school sports, “is unfair, destroys girls’ sporting opportunities and clearly violates federal law,” Alliance legal counsel said. Defending Freedom. It was the conservative Christian legal group representing three girls that filed a civil rights lawsuit, which is now suing to prevent trans athletes from competing against them. The ADF has been called an “extremist hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center for his predatory legal maneuvers against LGBTQ Americans.

The Girls’ Advocate said to AP:

“Districts across the country will want to read this because it has legal implications,” said Roger Brooks. “This is a first decision by the Title IX enforcement agency that addresses the question of whether men on the playing field or on the track are denying girls opportunities consistent with Title IX. “

Wait. Did he just say “the men?”

There he leaves. Brooks made headlines earlier this month when he was urged by US District Judge Robert Chatigny to stop calling two young transgender women “men.” The judge ordered Brooks to call Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller, whose athletic success prompted the civil rights complaint and federal lawsuit, “transgender women” or “transgender girls.” Brooks has filed a motion to recuse Judge Chatigny, claiming his order shows “an appearance of bias” and complaining that the judge violates their First Amendment rights.

A spokesperson for the 501 (c) 3 nonprofit at the center of the complaint and federal lawsuit, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, takes a different view of Title IX and has responded to the Human Rights Office decision civilians. in a report:

“Connecticut law is clear and students who identify as women should be recognized as women for all purposes – including high school sports. To do otherwise would not only be discriminatory, but would deny high school students the meaningful opportunity to participate in educational activities, including interschool sports, based on gender stereotypes and prejudices as Title IX and State law of Connecticut seek to prevent. “

And after?

The CIAC and school officials in Bloomfield, Canton, Cromwell, Danbury, Glastonbury and Hartford, Connecticut have had 20 days to resolve what the Civil Rights Office calls a violation. According to The New York Times, The OCR said the next step would be to suspend, terminate or refuse to provide financial assistance to the association and districts, or refer the cases to the Department of Justice for further action.

“The threat to withhold federal funding for Title IX violation is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to intimidate the CIAC and the state into accepting the administration’s narrow interpretation, which pushes trans athletes and non-binary in silence, ”Connecticut State Representative Jeff Currey said. . “I commend the ACIC and its members for taking a stance that respects and values ​​all of our student athletes and their educational opportunities, and for supporting a policy that ensures athletes like Terry and Andraya can have dignified sports careers in high school. .

The Covid-19 pandemic has canceled the spring high school athletic season, depriving both cisgender (meaning ‘non-transgender’) girls who don’t want to compete with trans girls and trans girls themselves from running . The last time one of the plaintiffs, Chelsea Mitchell of Canton, Connecticut, competed against one of these girls, Terry Miller, she beat Miller. Again. It was the second time in eight days she beat a trans athlete she accuses of being unbeatable.

Mitchell and his co-applicants – Glastonbury Elder Selina Soule and Danbury sophomore Alanna Smith – don’t just want the CIAC and school boards to ban Miller and Yearwood. They want the records of transgender girls to be erased.

Won’t women’s sport be ruined?

This is the question often asked by those who fear what will happen if trans girls and trans women are allowed to compete with other women. Helen Carroll, longtime coach and sports policy expert says the fear is misplaced because it hasn’t happened yet.

“Over the past nine years,” Carroll explains, “transgender athletes have been able to compete on teams at NCAA member colleges and universities, consistent with their gender identity, like all other student-athletes, without disrupting college sports for women. “

Here’s another take, from Sam Brinton, vice president of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor project, which is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth: “Title IX was intended to ensure that gender would never be a barrier to opportunity in our country’s schools ; this administration’s decision to use it instead to exclude transgender athletes completely turns this historic civil rights law into a tool of discrimination. At Project Trevor, we hear directly from transgender and non-binary youth who only want to be included for who they are. They do not deserve to be sidelined by their federal government.