CIAC's Transgender Policy Faces Test Wtih New Lawsuit

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The outdoor high school track and field season has may be over, but the fight over who may compete in Connecticut is still getting started. 

A week ago, a complaint was filed on behalf of three CT state high school athletes, challenging the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference's transgender policy, which currently allows transgender student-athletes to compete with the gender they identity with.

The complaint, filed by a conservative Christian law firm on behalf of the students, says that allowing transgender girls to compete in girls sports deprives their cisgender (someone who identifies with their birth sex) peers of "opportunities for participation, recruitment, and scholarships" and violates Title IX.

The CIAC is not wavering from its position.

"The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is committed to equity in providing opportunities to student athletes in Connecticut," said CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini in a statement provided to DyeStat. "The CIAC reviewed our transgender policy with the Office of Civil Rights in Boston earlier this school year to ensure compliance with Title IX.  In addition to reviewing the policy with our legal counsel, the CIAC also discussed our current policy with Connecticut’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to ensure compliance with Connecticut legislation protecting students (and others) in their gender expression and identity."

The suit names transgender student-athletes Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood, both rising seniors who have won state and New England titles. Miller and Yearwood, who compete in the sprints, are currently on hormones to block testosterone as they transition. In the complaint filed by the three high school athletes, only one was named, Selina Soule of Glastonbury High, who also competes in the sprints.

Miller voiced her opinion on the matter through a message posted on social media this week saying how tired she was of all the negativity she and Yearwood have received.

“I’m so tired of being harassed and talked about all the time,” Miller wrote. “I wake up and it’s Terry this and Terry that. I’m 17-years-old, why can’t I live like a teenager?”

This past indoor season, Miller and  Yearwood finished 1-2 in the 55 dash at the State Open, while Soule was eighth, missing out on an opportunity to advance to the New England Championships. Earlier this month at the Outdoor Open in the 100-meter dash, Soule finished 14th in the prelims, while both Miller and Yearwood advanced the finals. Yearwood took fourth place, while Miller false started and did not place.

What's at stake with the new lawsuit is a policy change that is not likely to affect current students, but future students.

In an article for DyeStat last month, Dr. Karissa Niehoff, the executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, talked about the issue of transgender student-athletes and the varying policies. Currently, Connecticut is one of 17 states that allow transgender student-athletes to compete with the gender they identify with. 

“(This) is not about the winning and losing. It’s about the successful development of these kids,” Niehoff said. “And if we don’t treat them (transgender student-athletes) respectfully, their development is going to lose. That’s a much bigger issue than someone not getting a medal or a place in a race. Much bigger issue.”