Colorado school districts sues CHSAA, state to clear way for transgender athlete ban
A Colorado school district banned transgender athletes from playing on teams that match their gender identities last week then filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn polices and state law that stand in the way District named the Colorado High School Initiatives Association the Colorado Civil Rights Division and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in the lawsuit The district which is located in the Colorado Springs area explained that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and CHSAA s bylaws allowing transgender athletes to compete put D in an untenable position Compliance with these state requirements would force the District to violate students constitutional rights and hazard federal funding loss while adherence to federal obligations exposes the District to state penalties including fines and athletic-program suspension the lawsuit states The lawsuit seeks a court ruling declaring rules on prohibiting transgender athlete bans by CHSAA and CADA to be unconstitutional CHSAA Bylaw recognizes the right of transgender student-athletes to participate in interscholastic exercises free from unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation President Donald Trump issued an executive order Feb designed to ban athletes assigned male at birth from competing in female sports and CHSAA has maintained a neutral stance on the issue in the ensuing months If CHSAA were to direct schools to comply with Trump s federal order the association s legal representation commented it would be advising schools to break state anti-discrimination laws According to the lawsuit on Feb CHSAA commissioner Michael Krueger who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit sent an email to member schools noting there is a direct conflict between federal directives and existing Colorado state law Until state and federal laws align on the issue the association is deferring decisions on the matter to the local level That remained the affair after representatives from school districts and charter schools wrote CHSAA in mid-April with a demand to instantly adopt rules and practices to ensure that boys are not permitted to compete as girls in girls sports District which encompasses northeast Colorado Springs and the Falcon area of El Paso County has over students in schools including three high schools Vista Ridge Sand Creek and Falcon In the lawsuit the district wrote its new plan banning transgender athletes from sports teams was to preserve athletic opportunities for female students in light of the substantial natural athletic advantage possessed by male students As a basis for the lawsuit D cited the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Title IX and discrimination on the basis of sex The lawsuit argues that CADA and CHSAA s transgender policies threaten to unravel decades of precedent forbidding sex-based discrimination D filed the lawsuit in light of its new strategy banning transgender athletes as the program violates CADA and the CHSAA bylaws and the District has a credible fear that the State of Colorado and CHSAA will take enforcement action against it based on its program The district is asking a Colorado court for a declaratory judgement that CADA and CHSAA does not require D to allow boys to play on girls athletic teams girls to play on boys athletic teams to open private spaces open to athletes of one sex to members of the opposite or to house members of the opposite sex in journey accommodations for school sports It also wants the court to award the district monetary compensation for attorneys fees from the lawsuit A spokesman for Weiser s office explained the AG is committed to defending the state s civil rights laws and had no further comment on the lawsuit CHSAA noted it still hasn t received any official notice of the lawsuit Should official notice be received we will organize our crew accordingly and proceed through the appropriate legal channels CHSAA s announcement read
