U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Court Hears Case Against CIAC

Canton’s Chelsea Mitchell leads Bloomfield’s Terry Miller and Cromwell’s Andraya Yearwood race in the finals of the 100 meters at the 2019 Class S championship meet in New Britain. Miller won this race with Mitchell finishing second.

On June 6 , a full panel of 15 judges of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York heard the case filed against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), multiple school boards, including Canton, for allowing two transgender student athletes, Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller to compete in high school girls track and field competitions.

In 2019, Canton’s Chelsea Mitchell was one of three high school athletes who filed a federal suit claiming that the CIAC’s policy to allow transgender students to compete in girls sports was a violation of Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that requires public schools to provide girls and boys with equitable sports opportunities.

The Court of Appeals previously upheld the CIAC’s policy in December 2022. A three-person panel of the court ruled that claims that cisgender girls were denied opportunities or championships are moot and unfounded, ultimately ruling they lacked standing to challenge the policy of the CIAC.

The court noted that cisgender athletes beat the transgender athletes several times. Cisgender are people that identify with their gender assigned at birth.
A decision from the full panel of the court is not expected for several weeks.

In April 2021, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to prevent transgender athletes from competing against girls in high school sports in Connecticut. Judge Robert Chatigny ruled in his decision that the suit was moot because the two transgender athletes named in the lawsuit had graduated and the plaintiffs had not identified any other transgender athletes that might compete against.

Along with Mitchell, Selina Soule of Glastonbury and Alanna Smith and Ashley Nicoletti of Danbury were also part of the suit. The group Alliance Defending Freedom filed the initial lawsuit in 2019 and appealed the 2021 decision to the Second Circuit.

“The court’s previous decision affirmed that our clients played by the rules and that all girls, trans and cisgender, have a right to play under Title IX,” said Elana Bildner, a senior staff attorney with American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Connecticut. “We hope the court will follow the facts and uphold its earlier decision. No matter what, we know that trans children should be loved, affirmed, and respected everywhere, including in our schools and on our sports teams.”

The 2nd Circuit announced in February that the full court would rehear the case after a three-judge panel of the court ruled against the female athletes in December 2022, saying they suffered no legal injury.

“Selina, Chelsea, Alanna, and Ashley—like all female athletes—deserve access to fair competition. The CIAC’s policy degraded each of their accomplishments and scarred their athletic records, irreparably harming each female athlete’s interest in accurate recognition of her athletic achievements,” said John Bursh, Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy of the Alliance for Freedom, argued in court on behalf of the athletes. “We urge the 2nd Circuit to set the record straight and allow these brave women to make their case under Title IX. This is imperative not only for the women who have been deprived of medals, potential scholarships, and opportunities, but also for all female athletes across the country.”

The dispute centered around transgender athletes Miller and Yearwood. Both identified as males at birth. But now, they identify as female and CIAC rules allow athletes to compete based on the gender they identify as.

As a sophomore, Miller competed for Bulkeley in Hartford before transferring to Bloomfield and competing with the Warhawks for two years. Yearwood attended Cromwell for four years. Both athletes, who competed in track and field, graduated in June 2020.

Cisgender athletes claimed in their federal lawsuit that they lost opportunities to compete at the State Open or the New England championships with Miller and Yearwood in the field.

The top five finishers in each individual event at the CIAC class meet (LL, L, MM, M and S) qualify for the State Open with an allowance for athletes who met a certain time or distance standard. The top six finishers at the Open earn a spot at the New England championships.

According to the lawsuit, Miller and Yearwood won 15 individual state championships in outdoor track and field and indoor track and field from 2017 through 2020.
In 2019, Miller won her second straight State Open championship in the 200 meters in outdoor track and field. A week earlier, she swept the 100 and 200 meter races at the Class S championship, beating Mitchell and setting new Class S records in the two victories.

Mitchell won the 100 meter title at the State Open in June 2019 with a new school record time of 11.67 seconds after Miller was disqualified in the finals for a false start. Yearwood was fourth in that race.

Mitchell went onto capture the 2019 New England championship in the 100, becoming the first Canton girl to capture a New England title. She was later named the girls track athlete of the year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.

The 2020 outdoor track season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the athletes did compete during the indoor track and field season. Mitchell won three titles at the Class S meet in February 2020, including the 55 meters where she beat Miller for the first time by 0.02 of a second.

A week later at the State Open, Mitchell won the 55 meters again with Miller finishing third. At the 2020 New England championship, Mitchell was second in the 55 meters with Miller finishing fifth. Mitchell graduated from Canton High in June 2020.

Information from the ACLU and their position on the case.
Information from the Alliance for Freedom and their position on the case.