Female runner beats transgender competitor days after filing lawsuit to block such athletes in girls sports
A female high school runner whose family is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit to block athletes with male anatomy from competing with biological females has beaten a transgender competitor just two days after the suit was filed. Canton High School student Chelsea Mitchell won the Class S 55-meter dash title on Friday beating Bloomfield High School's Terry Miller by clocking 7.18 seconds against the latter's 7.20 seconds, Fox61 reports.
What's more? Mitchell also came first in the 300-meter dash and long jump events.
The federal lawsuit -- filed by families of Mitchell, Selina Soule, a senior at Glastonbury High School, and Alanna Smith, a sophomore at Danbury High School -- seeks to block transgender athletes in Connecticut from competing in girls events.
That said, the lawsuit came after transgender sprinters Miller and Andraya Yearwood almost always outperformed their cisgender competitors. According to the lawsuit, the two seniors combined have won at least 15 girls state indoor or outdoor championship races since 2017.
And while the lawsuit moves forward, attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom have asked to court to prevent transgender athletes from competing pending a verdict. But no hearing date on that was scheduled before the state's indoor track championships began on Thursday.
According to the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, their policies simply follow a state anti-discrimination law that mandates students to be treated in school by the gender with which they identify -- a policy the group believes is "appropriate under both state and federal law."
According to Transathlete.com -- a website that tracks state policies in high school sports across the US -- Connecticut is one of 17 states that allowed transgender high school athletes to compete without restrictions in 2019. Meanwhile, eight other states require athletes to compete under the gender on their birth certificate or after going through sex reassignment procedures or hormone therapies.
But Yearwood and Miller have said they are still in the process of transitioning.
Having said that, the three plaintiffs in the suit have almost always lost to Miller and are usually behind Yearwood. In 2019, Mitchell finished third in the girls 55-meter indoor track competition at the state championship event -- behind Miller and Yearwood. "Our dream is not to come in second or third place, but to win fair and square," Mitchell previously explained. "All we're asking for is a fair chance."
According to the plaintiffs, allowing athletes with male anatomy has been rather unfair for them -- depriving them of several track titles and scholarship opportunities.
"Mentally and physically, we know the outcome before the race even starts," said Smith, who is the daughter of former Major League pitcher Lee Smith. "That biological unfairness doesn't go away because of what someone believes about gender identity. All girls deserve the chance to compete on a level playing field."