Clapping with one hand

Government’s ruling against CIAC a victory for fairness, but not civil rights

Neither Terry Miller, a senior at Bloomfield, nor Andraya Yearwood, a senior at Cromwell, was going to compete in another Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference track and field event anyway.

The power of COVID-19, not the U.S. Education Department or the federal courts, made that decision weeks ago with the cancellation of spring sports. The Education Department Office for Civil Rights’ decision dated May 15 and made public Thursday by the Associated Press did take the malice and scorn that would have been directly aimed at the two transgender sprinters through the completion of their high school careers out of the equation.

For the sake of decency, let’s be 100 percent thankful for that much.

Yet when the OCR decided that Connecticut’s policy that allows transgender girls to compete in track and field as girls violates the civil rights of cisgender girls, I could only applaud with one hand.

This long, fiercely fought saga is not all about inclusion. Nor is it all about competition.

It is about both. These are all our children. These also our developing athletes. Yes, this is about learning to win and lose, but not only about learning to win and lose.

So to me, this is not a civil rights victory. It is a competitive fairness victory.

There is no such thing as Title Even Playing Field. There is Title IX, under the control of an Education

Department that could force Connecticut to change its policy or lose federal funding. So other states take notice. Title IX guarantees equal education opportunities for women, including in athletics.

Represented by the nonprofit organization Alliance Defending Freedom, the families of track athletes Selina Soule, a senior at Glastonbury, Chelsea Mitchell, a senior at Canton and Alanna Smith, a sophomore at Danbury, and Ashley Nicoletti, a sophomore at Immaculate, also have gone to federal case. The case is against the Connecticut Association of Schools and the school districts of Bloomfield, Danbury, Cromwell and Canton.

“We’re very excited; it’s a step in the right direction,” Smith’s mom, Cheryl Radachowsky, said. “I’m extremely proud of Alanna along with the other girls to stand up and speak out. Anytime they’re given the positive feedback that somebody understands their fight for a level and fair playing field is a good day.

“Alanna is a bit on the quiet side but she smiled ear to ear. We started this process a year ago and she has, with a smile on her face, said she wanted to fight for biological females. Today was confirmation she is doing the right thing.”

In a letter obtained by the Associated Press, the OCR said it will “either initiate administrative proceedings to suspend, terminate, or refuse to grant or continue and defer financial assistance” to the conference and those districts or refer the cases to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“This is a very encouraging step in the right direction for female athletes across Connecticut,” said Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. “It’s too early to say how it will impact the lawsuit. Right now, they’re on two separate tracks and we’ll have to wait and see if they converge down the line.

“This is an administrative decision by the OCR but at the same time there’s a federal case which is going to determine whether transgender females can participate in girls high school track and field,” CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said. “We look forward to the decision.”

This is at least the third time I have written the next two paragraphs. I’m not changing a syllable.

Denying a transgender athlete a chance to compete with the gender of their choice is wrong. To deny that opportunity at a delicate age, when drug use and suicide are realities for many, including those who wrestle with gender and sexual identity, lowers the standards of our humanity.

Yet at the same time, to have biological boys running against biological girls in a high school foot race is not — on that day, at that moment — a level playing field. And if it happens in the biggest moments of a young person’s athletic life, the results can be heartbreaking and, yes, unfair.

I have taken nasty hits from both sides over the past three years for my stance. I do know I am not soft. I do know I am not weak. I am not a waffler. Nor am I a hypocrite in this nuanced, sensitive matter. Judging by the feedback, I also know people around the world are watching this case.

Yearwood and Miller combined to win 15 state indoor and outdoor titles since 2017. Yes, times and distances — not places — get you college scholarships. Yet I do agree with the Department of Education’s assertion that cisgender athletes were “denied advancing to finals in events, higher level competitions, awards, recognition and possibility greater visibility to colleges.” On a scale of importance of 1 to 10, some of it rates as a 2. Some rate as a 9. Other people will say they’re all 1. Still others will say they’re all 10.

I have witnessed both Yearwood and Miller run early on and my eyes told me then both had the biological bodies of young men. ACLU lawyers for the transgender athletes have said both are undergoing hormone treatments that have put them on an equal footing with the girls they are competing against. Mitchell did beat Miller for the state 55 indoors title in February.

This is a matter of scientific complexities involving hormonal levels, bone density, etc. Sports at the most elite levels have wrestled with this for decades. There are dangers in beginning treatment at too young an age, so transgender athletes in high school don’t have much of a chance to start the process. All that aside, we must treat transgender athletes with nothing but respect. Their choice must be honored. Their participation is paramount. Yet where?

Anytime I forward an idea that might be the best, most compassionate solution I get slapped down by both sides. Both seem more interested in total victory than in the best possible compromise.

Create a separate track and field division for transgender athletes?

Allow them to compete with the gender of their choice, but don’t count in team scoring or individual placements?

Allow transgender athletes to compete with the gender of their choice and allow the results to count in dual meets, but not in state level class and open meets?

What I get mostly from one side, “They have penises. Make them run with the boys.”

What I get mostly from the other side is: “This isn’t about winning. This is about participation. To separate them in any way from the girls is to unfairly single them out.”

And then both sides throw conflicting science at the argument to prove they are correct.

And the more political it gets, the uglier it gets.

“All that today’s finding represents is yet another attack from the Trump administration on transgender students,” Chase Strangio, who leads transgender justice initiatives for the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project, told the Associated Press. “Trans students belong in our schools, including on sports teams, and we aren’t backing down from this fight.”

I would argue that with Miller and Yearwood having completed their careers, we have space for more objectivity. Instead of cheering or complaining too loudly, find a solution.

In 2013, the CIAC set its transgender policy in conjunction with state laws and is now one of 18 states where transgenders can compete without restriction. In 2017, the CIAC release said, the Department of Justice and Department of Education withdrew earlier guidance documents that aligned with the CIAC’s policy, stating that such guidance had not been subject to any formal public process and “there must be due regard for the primary role of the states and local schools.” The CIAC reexamined state law.

“Connecticut law is clear and students who identify as female are to be recognized as female for all purposes — including high school sports,” the CIAC release said. “To do otherwise would not only be discriminatory but would deprive high school students of the meaningful opportunity to participate in educational activities, including inter-scholastic sports, based on sex-stereotyping and prejudice sought to be prevented by Title IX and Connecticut state law.”

A few months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General William Barr gave notice which way this saga was headed — against the CIAC. On Thursday, we found out for sure.

So how does one clap with one hand?

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Canton’s Chelsea Mitchell, left, and Bloomfield’s Terry Miller compete in the 55-meter dash final at the CIAC Class S championship on Feb. 14.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Bloomfield’s Terry Miller runs to a first-place finish in the 300-meter dash at the State Open in February 2019.