Who is Alanna Smith? High school athlete slams Joe Biden's DOJ for quitting suit against trans women in sports
The Biden administration's Department of Justice has withdrawn its support for a lawsuit filed by three high school female athletes aimed at blocking biological males from competing in girls' sports in Connecticut. The lawsuit was originally backed by former Attorney General Bill Barr, who said the Connecticut law that allowed such participation violated Title IX protections.
Alanna Smith, one of the three girls who brought the lawsuit, appeared on Fox News Wednesday night with her attorney, Christiana Holcomb of the Alliance Defending Freedom. “Fairness needs to be restored in our sport and all other women’s sports," Smith told the network as she blasted the Biden administration. "These biological males are just taking it away from us.”
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“I got involved after I ran against the biological males at the New England meet because in the 200-meter I took third place when I should have gotten runner-up,” Smith told Fox host Katie Pavlich Wednesday night. “And it’s not really about placement but it’s all about knowing that I work so many hours a week to be able to get runner-up in New England’s [championships] as a freshman. And I am really disappointed in the news, because me and the other girls, Selina and Chelsea, have worked really hard to get our stories out there, to get people to realize that fairness needs to be restored in our sport and all other women’s sports.”
Pavlich told Holcomb she had "serious questions about what this means in terms of harassment of female athletes. Does this mean that biological males are not allowed to go into the locker room as well as compete against them and take away scholarships and placement in state championships? I know that the lawsuit is going to move forward despite DOJ pulling their support for it? So where are you going from here?”
Biden administration pushing the Equality Act
“Well, the lawsuit absolutely moves forward, but as you mentioned, this was clearly a politically motivated decision to side with radical activists over female athletes like Alanna,” Holcomb answered. “But what’s even more concerning is this effort to gut legal protection for women is not just isolated to what we see in Connecticut. Even now, the Biden administration is pushing the so-called Equality Act, which ignores the real physical differences between men and women and threatens women’s privacy, women’s homeless shelters, and yes, even women’s sports on a national level for female athletes like Alanna.”
Pavlich asked, “But in terms of athletics, Alanna, when it comes to the things that you’ve missed out on, people say ‘it’s only fair’ to allow biological males to compete against you, What is your response to that?”
“People should realize that a lot of biological females have missed out on making it to meets that really matter, like states and regionals, and the transgender athletes have taken spots on the podium that belong to biological females,” Smith explained. “We train for so many days a week, so many hours to be able to be the best in our state and the best in our region, and these biological males are just taking it away from us and we really deserve it."
College scholarships at stake
Meanwhile, her lawyer added, “Title IX was designed to ensure that girls like Alanna have a fair and level playing field, have a chance to showcase their talents, to be champions, and frankly, to earn those college scholarships. So we want to move forward and we want to see women’s sports protected across the country.”
Smith was reportedly ranked the fastest biological girl in Connecticut in the 55m. However, she lost four girls’ state championships and two all-New England awards since trans athletes began participating. “I knew that I was the fastest girl here, one of the fastest in the state," she told Fox News. "I remembered all my training and everything I had been taught on how to maximize my performance. I thought of all the times that other girls have lost. I could feel the adrenaline in my blood and hope that wafted from me. That just possibly, I could win this. Then, the gun went off. And I lost.”
Who is Alanna Smith?
Smith is the daughter of MLB Hall of Famer relief pitcher Lee Smith. As a freshman, she won the 400m and finished second in the 200m at the 2019 New England Regional Championships. “Even before I get to the track, I already know that I’m not going to get first place, or maybe even second place," Smith bemoaned. "I know that no matter how hard I work, I won’t be able to have the top spot.”
In March 2020, former AG Barr had stated that under CIAC’s interpretation of Title IX, "schools may not account for the real physiological differences between men and women. Instead, schools must have certain biological males — namely, those who publicly identify as female — compete against biological females. In so doing, CIAC deprives those women of the single-sex athletic competitions that are one of the marquee accomplishments of Title IX.”