The court’s decision to do so tells women and girls that their feelings and opportunities don’t matter, and that they can’t expect anyone to stand up for their dignity and their rights.
And unfortunately, a federal district court recently dismissed our case. It’s obvious to every single girl on the track.īut Connecticut officials are determined to ignore the obvious. Their bodies are simply bigger and stronger on average than female bodies. That’s because males have massive physical advantages. In the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons alone, these males took 15 women’s state track championship titles (titles held in 2016 by nine different girls) and more than 85 opportunities to participate in higher level competitions that belonged to female track athletes. As a result, two males began racing in girls’ track in 2017. The CIAC allows biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. That experience is why three of my fellow female athletes and I filed a lawsuit last year with Alliance Defending Freedom against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC): because girls and women shouldn’t be stripped of their right to fair competition. It tells me that I’m not good enough that my body isn’t good enough and that no matter how hard I work, I am unlikely to succeed, because I’m a woman. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two male runners. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to male runners. Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race.
We reproduce the original version of Chelsea’s piece below so that you can read what she wrote prior to USA Today’s post-publication edits and editor’s note, which inappropriately assigned “hurtful” motives to Chelsea’s logical use of the word “male” to refer to the biology of males who compete in female sports. We regret that hurtful language was used.” “This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines. On May 25, editors at USA Today, without notice to Chelsea, changed the word “male” to “transgender” throughout her piece and added the following editor’s note to the top of it: Connecticut Association of Schools) about the injustice she experienced as an athlete who was forced to compete against males in track. Editor’s note: On May 22, USA Today published an opinion piece from Alliance Defending Freedom client Chelsea Mitchell ( Soule v.
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