Last Updated on May 14, 2020
In a high profile court case over the involvement of transgender biological males, who identify as female, competing in female high school sports, lawyers have filed a motion asking the judge to recuse himself.
According to The New York Post, the issue brewed over whether the Alliance Defending Freedom, representing the female athletes, can refer to the trans athletes as “biological males.”
The action potentially implies ideological sympathies as the judge ordered the legal group to refer to the defendants as female.
According to Mercury News:
Those lawyers argue that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny showed bias during a conference call last month, when he ordered them to use the term transgender female, which he said was “consistent with science, common practice and perhaps human decency.”
The plaintiffs are four female runners. Their attorneys, from the Christian nonprofit organization Alliance Defending Freedom, contend the transgender athletes have an unfair biological advantage in athletic competition that violates Title IX, the federal law that allows girls equal educational opportunities, including in athletics.
Connecticut’s policy allows students to compete as the gender with which they identify.
The plaintiffs had initially sought an injunction blocking the participation of two transgender girls from the spring track season and invalidating the state records they hold.
Furthermore, an ADF representative told the New York Post: “If a judge dictates what words parties have to use, it can bias the case. It is essential that every litigant be able to present their case to an impartial court in the way that they believe is the most accurate and true to the facts. We’ve explained in our brief how the judge’s order prevents us from doing that for our clients.”
National File reported on the girls’ recent track success against the biological male athletes:
A female Connecticut high school student, who, merely two days prior to winning the State championship, filed a lawsuit to bar biological males from competing in girls sports, beat a transgender competitor on the track.
According to Christian Post, Chelsea Mitchell, representing Canton High School, won Friday’s Class S 55-meter dash, clocking in at 7.18 seconds, while Bloomfield High School’s trans athlete, Terry Miller, finished at 7.20 seconds–being edged out by 0.02 seconds.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has permitted male athletes, identifying as trans, to compete alongside girls, since 2017, drawing much controversy.
The following season, in 2018, a trans athlete was transferred schools, which meant that he could compete in Mitchell’s class, prompting the female athlete to launch a legal campaign to segregate athletes on the basis of their biological sex, rather than their gender identification.