Biden administration withdraws support for federal lawsuit to ban transgender athletes from girls sports
The Biden administration has withdrawn support for a Trump-backed federal lawsuit that seeks to ban transgender high school athletes from competing in girls sports.
The Justice Department and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights ended their backing of a suit filed by Connecticut high school runners who claim they were shafted by the state’s policy of allowing students to compete as their identified gender.
“The government has reconsidered the matter,” Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham wrote in a court filing Tuesday.
A federal judge on Friday will hear a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which claims two transgender sprinters deprived the plaintiffs of victories and potential athletic scholarships.
On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere.
Former President Donald Trump had rolled back protections for transgender people while in office.
Those who back restrictions on transgender athletes argue that transgender girls, because they were born male, are naturally stronger, faster and bigger than those born female.
Critics call restrictions brazen discrimination with roots in anti-LGBT hatred.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference says it is following state law that requires all high school students be treated according to their gender identity.
Last March, then-Attorney General William Barr argued that the state’s policy runs afoul of Title IX, the federal law that allows girls equal educational opportunities, including in athletics.
With News Wire Services
