Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed a brief in support of transgender athletes. Raoul, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief opposing efforts to bar transgender students from participating in gender-segregated school sports.
Raoul says that transgender athletes have the right to participate in school activities, including sports, free from discrimination and consistent with their gender identity.
In an amicus brief filed in Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Raoul and the coalition argue that the court should reject a lawsuit brought by four cisgender students who claim that the participation of transgender students in gender-segregated sports violates the rights of cisgender girls. The lawsuit was filed after the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference implemented a policy that allows transgender students to participate in gender-segregated sports according to their gender identity.
Raoul and the coalition argue that, contrary to the plaintiffs’ claims, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 does not bar transgender female students from participating in gender-segregated sports according to their gender identity. Raoul and the coalition believe that inclusion of transgender people in athletic activities confer significant individual and societal benefits.