The Biden government has withdrawn the government’s support for a federal lawsuit in Connecticut that seeks to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ high school sports.
Connecticut allows high school athletes to participate in sports according to their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners claiming they did not deprive themselves of victories, state titles and athletic opportunities because they were forced to compete against two transgender sprinters.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Civil Rights for Education Rights withdrew their support for the case ahead of a hearing scheduled for Friday on the motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
The intervention of the Trump administration in the case last year took place when state legislators debated across the country to limit the participation of transgender athletes to their gender assigned during their birth. Seventeen states considered such legislation, and Idaho passed a law. The Republican Mississippi legislature overwhelmingly approved a similar bill earlier this month.
Supporters of restrictions on transgender athletes argue that transgender girls, because they are born male, are naturally stronger, faster and larger than those born female.
Last March, then-Attorney General William Barr, known for his interest in the Connecticut case, argued that state policy violated Title IX, the federal law that gives girls equal educational opportunities. allow, including athletics.
John Durham, a U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, and other department officials withdrew Barr’s statement Tuesday, saying “The government has reconsidered the case.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs declined to comment.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference said it follows legislation that requires all high school students to be treated according to their gender identity.
The Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office has sent letters this past spring and summer threatening to cut off federal funding to Connecticut school districts that followed the policy.
The office on Tuesday informed those involved that it was withdrawing the letters “as well as the underlying findings and terms” and did not want to become a party to the case.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere. Former President Donald Trump turned back protection for transgender people while in office.
Dan Barrett, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which represents the two transgender athletes in the case, said Tuesday’s actions are a hint that the government, the Department of Education, may now have a different view of title IX het. ”
Glenn Lungarini, executive director of CIAC, said the organization’s transgender policies were shaped by federal and state leadership and that several courts and federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, had previously acknowledged that the term “sex” in Title IX was ambiguous.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said Tuesday he is pleased with the Justice Department’s decision to withdraw Barr’s statement.
“Transgender girls are girls and every woman and girl deserves protection against discrimination. Period, “he said in a statement.
Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram