Justice Department withdraws from transgender athlete case
The U.S. Justice Department has removed its support for a federal lawsuit in Connecticut that seeks to reverse a state policy allowing the participation of transgender athletes in girl’s high school sports.
The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters.
The Justice Department’s move comes just days before a Friday hearing on a motion to dismiss that lawsuit.
Last March, then-Attorney General William Barr signed what is known as a statement of interest in the lawsuit, arguing the policy of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the board that oversees the state’s high school athletic competitions, runs afoul of Title IX, the federal law that allows girls equal educational opportunities, including in athletics.
In a filing Tuesday, Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham and other department officials withdrew Barr’s statement, saying “The government has reconsidered the matter.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to comment.
The CIAC allows athletes to compete as the gender with which they identify and has said it is following a state law that requires all high school students be treated according to their gender identity.
The U.S. Department of Education’s office for Civil Right last summer sent a letter threatening to cut off some federal funding to Connecticut school districts that followed the policy.
But during his campaign, President Biden committed to restoring transgender students’ access to sports, bathrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity.
Dan Barrett, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which represents the two transgender athletes in the lawsuit, said Tuesday’s action represents “a hint that the government, the Department of Education, may now have a different view of Title IX.”
NEW CANAAN — For Jen Benson, a double-organ transplant recipient, the 16 medications needed to keep her alive make her among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Her hopes that she would soon receive a vaccine against the virus changed quickly to frustration when Gov. Ned Lamont announced a substantial shift Monday in the state’s plan that no longer prioritizes those, like Benson, with preexisting conditions.
“I feel completely lied to and betrayed,” said Benson, a New Canaan resident who received a kidney and pancreas transplant in August 2015 after years on dialysis.
Benson, like other organ transplant recipients in the state, thought she would be next to get vaccinated as a group recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as among those most at risk of COVID-19 complications.
But with Lamont’s new plan, Benson, 41, will not be eligible for the vaccine until mid-April, weeks after it opens up to hundreds of thousands of individuals age 45 to 64.
“I know people who are 10 years older than me that are healthy as horses. To know the fact they are going to be able to get a shot before me, I’m livid . ... That’s not right. That’s literally not right in my eyes,” Benson said.
Benson’s concerns are not unique. As Lamont’s administration considered next steps for vaccine rollout, they weighed federal guidance that prioritized those with preexisiting conditions. Connecticut’s estimate was that group was more than 300,000 people.
As recently as last week, Lamont hinted toward releasing a timeline for people in this group to get vaccinated, but switched course Monday when he and his top officials said it would be simpler and faster to focus on age-based distributions.
“To be honest, I feel for him in the sense it can’t be easy to be faced with having to prioritize people ... However, I am extremely, extremely angry,” Benson said.
For Benson, a twice daily regimen of pills keeps her immune system weak, a necessary step to ensure that her body does not reject her donated organs.
“My immune system needs to be kept low. If I had an immune system that was strong, it would reject my organ,” she said.
But the consequence is that she’s much more susceptible for COVID-19 complications, and the risks can be even more dire, like the organs she received could fail.
“I have to be vulnerable in order to stay alive, which is one of the reasons I am so high risk,” Benson said.
She runs a nonprofit, Transplant Journey, that pairs mentors with those who need organ transplants. For months, the vaccine has been a source of daily conversations.
Early on, questions swirled whether it would be dangerous for transplant recipients, potentially leading to organ rejection. While some in her community remain fearful, Benson still wants to get inoculated.
“The information doctors are saying now is you are better off getting the vaccine because we know at least you are safer than catching COVID,” she said.