Biden admin drops support of female athletes after transgender executive order
The Biden administration has withdrawn its support of a lawsuit intended to help female athletes.
The Trump administration had filed statements of support, brought by Alliance Defending Freedom.
The Department of Justice and Department of Education have dropped their support for a lawsuit to protect women’s sports in Connecticut. Both agencies have withdrawn filings in support of the plaintiffs, including a statement from former Attorney General Bill Barr and letters of pending enforcement action from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, as reported by NBC Connecticut.
Three cisgender female high school track athletes are suing the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and the boards of education in five municipalities, claiming that allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports deprives biological women of the ability to compete fairly and harming their chances for college scholarships.
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the three student-athletes in this case.
Christina Holcomb, Legal Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, criticized the reversal as “defying common sense.” She continued,
“The government’s politically motivated reversal can’t change biological reality or the correct interpretation of the law. Males will always have inherent physical advantages over comparably talented and trained girls; that’s the reason we have girls’ sports in the first place. In fact, Title IX exists precisely because of these differences and is intended to ensure that women and girls have an equal opportunity to compete, achieve, and win.”
A Department of Education spokesman told Campus Reform that the decision to withdraw support stemmed from President Joe Biden’s day-one Executive Order:
“The Department is reviewing the case in light of the President Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. The Department shares President Biden’s commitment to protecting the rights of all students and is committed to fulfilling our nation’s promise of equal educational opportunity.”
[RELATED: Judge halts Trump-backed transgender student athlete law in Idaho]
The Department of Justice declined to comment beyond the public filing.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom’s legal complaint, the two transgender competitors won 15 women’s state titles over the course of three track seasons. In 2016, the lawsuit claims, those same titles were held by nine different biological females.
The Trump administration had filed statements of support in the case.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AngelaLMorabito
