Colorado school district suing state over policy that allows trans athletes in girls sports
A school district in Colorado is suing the state's athletic association and attorney general over the state's laws requiring schools to allow biologically male transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.
School District 49 (D49) in El Paso County, Colorado, joined a growing list of school districts in states that allow trans athletes to compete in girls sports by changing its own policy to ensure female-only participation.
But D49 is going a step further with preemptive legal action after observing "increasing tension between Title IX obligations and the state system that requires discrimination against female student-athletes," according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
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"Knowing that the approved policy would generate opposition and potentially trigger legal challenges, D49 filed a pre-enforcement action in the Colorado District of the federal court system seeking declaratory and injunctive relief," the school district said.
The lawsuit takes aim at the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) and Attorney General Philip J. Weiser and seeks legal protection for its new policy to protect girls sports.
The lawsuit does not come in response to a specific incident of a trans athlete competing in the district. Instead, it's a response to the state's sweeping policies conflicting with the school's obligation to abide by federal law, specifically Title IX.
"Political culture is far out of balance on gender issues. Our lawsuit seeks a rational correction to excessive accommodations," D49 Superinterdent Peter Hilts told Fox News Digital. "Our state athletic association simultaneously advocates equity and discrimination. We asked them to resolve that discrepancy, and they declined, so we were compelled to pursue a legal ruling."
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Lori Thompson, president of the School District 49 Board of Education, lamented the state's current policies and their effects on competition among girls.
"Current Colorado law requires us to violate Title IX by taking opportunities from deserving girls and delivering them to boys," Thompson told Fox News Digital.
Colorado is one of the many blue states to protect the rights of trans athletes in girls sports.
Students in the state can compete in either gender category if they inform their school in writing that their gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth. CHSAA requires schools to do a confidential evaluation, and all forms of documentation are voluntary. There are also no medical or legal requirements stated.
Weiser's office responded to the lawsuit in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
"The attorney general is committed to defending Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws. The attorney general’s office has no further comment on this ongoing litigation," the statement said.
The CHSAA says it is aware of the lawsuit, but it has not yet been officially served, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"Should official notice be received, we will organize our team accordingly and proceed through the appropriate legal channels," the spokesperson added.
A representative for the legal firm Miller Farmer Carlson, representing D49, said the document has not been served due to a lack of correspondence from CHSAA.
"The counsel for CHSAA, Alex Halpern, has not responded to our requests to waive service. Unless he does so by tomorrow, we will then just go ahead and serve their registered agent," said Brad Miller.
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