Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) says females should not have to compete against males. In fact, ADF is representing four female athletes in Connecticut who claim their Title IX rights have been violated. The case is known as Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools.
"If we want a future where girls can be on the podium and showcase their athletic talents, we have to protect the integrity of women's sports," ADF attorney Christiana Kiefer tells AFN.
ADF attorneys filed their opening brief with the full Second Circuit last week (Thursday, March 23). The four female athletes who filed suit – Selina Soule (right), Alanna Smith, Chelsea Mitchell, and Ashley Nicoletti – say they were consistently deprived of honors and opportunities to compete at elite levels because the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference adopted a policy allowing men who identify as females to compete in girls' athletic events.
That policy, says ADF, ignores "distinct differences in physical characteristics and capabilities" between the sexes – resulting in "devastating" effects on female track athletes when two biological males competed in girls' events.
Activist groups and their attorneys say men identifying as women should be treated as such. They also dismiss claims that men have a physiological advantage over women when it comes to many sporting events. But Kiefer argues that men do have an advantage.
"Our biological sex is written on every cell in our bodies – and it is something that is to be celebrated and something that should be protected," says Kiefer. "Because males have biological differences from females, that gives them an advantage in sports."
In a press release, Kiefer points out that 18 states have enacted laws that protect women and girls from having to compete against males. The attorney also notes that polls show a majority of Americans agree that the competition is no longer fair when males are permitted to compete in women's sports.
Last month, the Second Circuit announced the full court would hear Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools after a three-judge panel of the court ruled against protecting female athletes in December 2022.
