HARTFORD, CT – Some Republican legislators joined representatives from the Family Institute of Connecticut and the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference at a “Save Girls Sport CT” rally at the Capitol on Thursday to criticize Democratic leaders for blocking an amendment that would ban transgender females – assigned male at birth – from high school sports.
House Republicans in February attempted to pass an amendment that would have banned transgender females from playing high school sports. The amendment failed, 49-89.
House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said girls need to be protected.
“I am standing here for men and women to say that biological men do not belong in women’s sports and we will continue to fight to restore the rights under Title IX,” Candelora said. “Women deserve those protections. They deserve the protections from being in vulnerable places, with men in locker rooms and bathrooms, and this absurdity really needs to come to an end.”
Title IX is a law that prevents discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. Executive Order 14201, signed by President Donald Trump on Feb. 5, states that any educational program that allows transgender girls to participate in women’s or girl’s sports will have its funding rescinded.
State Rep. Tracy Marra, R-Darien, said she has researched the issue and talked to parents to learn more.
“Not all of us have been in a world without Title IX. And that’s really good for you,” Marra said. “I have to say, my mom did go to school when there was no Title IX. And guess which sport she played in high school? None.”
Marra said allowing biological males to play women’s sports would mean taking steps backward.
“It’s undoing everything we have worked so hard for,” Marra said.
Some speakers said they or someone in their family has been injured as a result of playing against transgender female athletes.
Kim Jones, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, said there are physiological differences between men and women, which is why the two sexes must be separate in sports, and added that biological men playing in women’s sports would take away opportunities from women.
“You can choose to respect the identity of a man in a women’s prison, or you can protect the right for women not to be caged with males. You can protect the boy who wants to take a spot on a girl’s team, or you can protect the girl for whom that spot was designated,” she said.
Christy Mitchell, whose daughter Chelsea is one of the four female athletes who are challenging the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy that allows biological males to compete in women’s high school sports, also spoke at the press conference.
When she was a freshman at Canton High School in 2017, Chelsea Mitchell was one of only 25 who qualified to run at the Connecticut State Open, her mother explained, adding that her daughter’s track career suffered due to competition from biological males.
“Over the course of Chelsea’s high school career, she had a race against these two boys in nearly every major championship she went to. She raced them dozens of times, over and over again. And on four occasions, Chelsea was the girl that would have had the state championship title if the boys hadn’t been in the race,” Christy Mitchell said.
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he understands the concerns people may have, but he added that those students who would meet the description of someone who is in transition or trangender represent only a handful of individuals.
Ritter added that transgender students should not be penalized for wanting to play sports.
“The same people who are so strident in their views – that it is the worst thing that’s ever happened and all common sense has gone – I hope they would also remember there is a balance to that, which is you have some kids really, really struggling,” Ritter said.
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