This guest post is offered by Erin Burhoe, Regent Law 3L:
Have you ever stopped to consider whether unfair competition in sports can be a form of discrimination?
The federal case Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools grapples with this very question. This case tells the story of three high school track and field athletes – Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell – whose journeys to becoming champions were cut short when the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) allowed transgender female athletes (biological males) to run in the girl’s events and dominate the competition. On May 15, 2020, the Civil Rights Office of the U.S. Department of Education determined that the CIAC’s policy discriminated against women and violated Title IX, a federal law designed to provide equal opportunity for girls and women in federally funded educational institutions.
While this decision is a small victory for female athletes in Connecticut, across the country the transgender athlete controversy is far from over. The question remains whether it is possible to provide gender inclusion while maintaining a level playing field for cisgender athletes (biological females) in sports.
A significant amount of research suggests that transgender athletes competing according to their gender identity, rather than their physiological and biological genetic make-up, threaten to dissolve women’s sports as we know it. Both history and traditional values illustrate that the word “sex” means a person’s biological makeup as male or female, and redefining its meaning to be gender inclusive on a social scale opens the door for case law and politics to manipulate the legal protections afforded female athletes. Science and psychology provide clear evidence that men and women have biological distinctions that keep individuals from ever fully changing their birth sex and that transgender female athletes put the most elite cisgender female athletes at a tremendous disadvantage.
Having the opportunity to research this area of law was
significant. You can read the result of
my work in “The
Chance to Be Champions.” Ultimately, the goal of this article is to explain
how protections for transgender female athletes in the name of “equality”
actually sets back the women’s rights movement and could permanently eliminate
the social and economic benefits that women receive when participating in
competitive sports.
This paper needs to be read whether you're interested in the above topics or not. A skilled writer, Erin Burhoe draws from biblical and traditional values, science, and both historical and legislative precedent to gently but firmly address an issue that is being greatly misrepresented today. (And don't worry, it's easy to read even for people -- like me -- who haven't studied law! �� )
ReplyDeleteThis paper is worth every minute to read and share. Well done, Miss Burhoe!
When equality is the cry and discrimination is the outcome, Miss Burhoe exceptionally shares this dichotomy as it relates to women's sports being infiltrated by transgendered athletes. Supported by a great range of resources, this is a must read for anyone interested in the future of women's competitive sports.
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