Democrats are not happy about a Department of Education decision to withhold federal funding from Connecticut schools for violating Title IX’s discrimination statute by allowing biological men who claim to be transgender women, to compete agains biological women in high school and college sports.
Twenty eight lawmakers have sent a letter to Kenneth Marcus, DOE’s assistant secretary for civil rights, questioning the motives and legal standing for concluding the transgender policy violates Title IX.
The Associated Press reported on DOE’s move:
The Office for Civil Rights ruled the Connecticut policy, which allows athletes to participate as the gender with which they identity, has “denied female student-athletes athletic benefits and opportunities, including advancing to the finals in events, higher level competitions, awards, medals, recognition, and the possibility of greater visibility to colleges and other benefits.”
The civil rights office said it will “either initiate administrative proceedings to suspend, terminate, or refuse to grant or continue and defer financial assistance” to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school athletics and the six school districts named in the complaint or refer the cases to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The dispute, already the subject of a federal lawsuit, centers on two transgender sprinters who have frequently outperformed their competitors, winning a combined 15 girls state indoor or outdoor championship races since 2017, according to the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the transgender athletes, said the hormone treatment the boys are using “put them on equal footing” with female competitors.
AP reported that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has said that he is not willing to lose federal funds over the policy and is examining Olympic and NCAA policies for guidance because both entities require some kind of hormone treatment for transgender athletes to compete.
The Democrats, who asked the agency to respond by July 1, claim that DOE is violating its own policy by not deferring to the federal court case.
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