Federal judge tosses lawsuit seeking to ban transgender students from girls sports

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by female high school athletes who claimed that Connecticut's policy of allowing students to compete in sports based on gender identity deprived them of fair competition due to the participation of two transgender students.

"I conclude that the request to enjoin enforcement of the CIAC policy has become moot due to the graduation of Yearwood and Miller, whose participation in girls' track provided the impetus for this action," Chatigny wrote in the court's ruling. "There is no indication that Smith and Nicoletti will encounter competition by a transgender student in a CIAC-sponsored event next season." Soule, Mitchell and Smith first brought the case in February 2020 when Soule and Mitchell were seniors and Smith was a sophomore, and they later added sophomore Ashley Nicoletti as a plaintiff. They alleged that a Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) policy allowing students to compete according to their gender identity violated their rights under Title IX.