CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, today took action to protect transgender students’ rights by filing an amicus brief opposing efforts to bar transgender students from participating in gender-segregated school sports.
“Transgender teenagers have the right to participate in school activities, including sports, free of discrimination and consistent with their gender identity,” Raoul said. “I urge the court to reject efforts to bar transgender students from participating in gender-segregated sports, and I will continue to fight these unjust laws and policies and work to protect the rights of transgender individuals.”
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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. Additionally, Raoul and the coalition assert policies that strive to include transgender people — including policies allowing transgender students to participate in athletic activities consistent with their gender identity — confer significant individual and societal benefits.
Joining Raoul in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
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