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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Connecticut high school athletes file Title IX complaint over mixed sex competition

38 replies

GrinitchSpinach · 19/06/2019 01:56

The brave Selina Soule and two other female high school athletes are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing religious liberty-focused organization. I wish someone on the left would take these cases, but as the ACLU etc have explicitly supported the end of single-sex sports, these girls don't really have anywhere else to turn.

Press release here:

“Girls deserve to compete on a level playing field. Forcing female athletes to compete against boys is grossly unfair and destroys their athletic opportunities,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “Title IX was designed to eliminate discrimination against women in education and athletics, and women fought long and hard to earn the equal athletic opportunities that Title IX provides. Allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports reverses nearly 50 years of advances for women under this law. We shouldn’t force these young women to be spectators in their own sports.”

The complaint asks the Office for Civil Rights to investigate the violations of Title IX and require CIAC to revise its flawed policy. The complaint further asks OCR to require the conference to acknowledge every girl who would have been identified as a champion or who would have qualified for participation in a higher level competition but for the participation of a male in her event.

www.adflegal.org/detailspages/press-release-details/female-athletes-challenge-connecticut-policy-that-abolishes-girls-only-sports?_ga=2.252534601.1710949560.1560904360-1859844914.1560904360

Selina and attorney interviewed by Tucker Carlson of Fox here:

Previous threads about Selina speaking out:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3562710-Are-you-a-parent-of-a-girl-whos-doing-well-in-sport-You-need-to-listen-to-Selina-Soule?pg=1

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3519465-Student-who-lost-track-championship-to-transgender-athletes-speaks-out

Previous AIBU thread about one of the competitions at issue:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3271449-In-Connecticut-two-teenage-boys-who-identify-as-girls-have-come-1st-and-2nd-in-the-girls-100m-sprint?msgid=78542060#78542060

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GrinitchSpinach · 07/09/2019 22:01

Thanks, all.

I agree this is such a good example of the well-justified fear that girls and women face when deciding whether it's safe to object to the loss of our sex-based rights, and of the gaslighting we're dealt when we decide to go ahead with formal objections. Depressing all around, but so bleak that I hope it's galvanizing? Ugh.

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Propertyfaux · 07/09/2019 08:56

Every time trans women and women’s sport is mentioned on Twitter it is followed by what women competitors need to do and why are they allowing this. Selina is the result, She has lost so much, she has had her future athletics career jeopardised. I am going to cut and paste and every time I see tweets asking why women are standing by I will paste her coaches actions and threats.

GirlDownUnder · 07/09/2019 03:26

Thanks GrinitchSpinach

And indeed bd67th - I hope that man doesn’t have a wife or children. It’s bad enough that in his position as coach of YA he’ll be looked up to and his opinions emulated. And his position allows him the power to affect a young woman’s whole life.

He clearly doesn’t like women, and what an example to set to children.

bd67th · 06/09/2019 21:27

FTFY: A girl is standing up for her rights and a man will punish her by restricting her opportunities for higher education.

The coach is a man. A man is choosing to do this to a girl who stands up for her and other girls' rights.

NotBadConsidering · 05/09/2019 23:37

when, the letter says, her track coach replaced her on a sprint medley team in Feb. 2019; told her and her parents that he could not give a good report to college coaches about her; and denied her a position as a team captain.

A girl is standing up for her rights and will be punished with restricting her opportunities for higher education. FFS Angry

VictoriaSpongeAndTea · 05/09/2019 22:39

Brave girls

pinksquash13 · 05/09/2019 22:24

Thank you. I feel so sad reading all about this case. I have NO IDEA how anyone can justify biological males competing in women's sport. I just don't understand how it can be defended and I think that's what's so upsetting and frustrating. Selina is so so brave. She must be so strong and I hope she continues to be. Thank you for stepping up when few others do!

MrsTerryPratchett · 05/09/2019 22:19

From what I can see the ACLU puts out FB posts about trans women/girls in sport frequently and the comments are almost always very unsupportive.

truthisarevolutionaryact · 05/09/2019 21:51

That's a small step. Thank you GrinitchSpinach
These really are brave young women standing up to these intolerant bullies.

MIdgebabe · 05/09/2019 21:49

Thanks for the update

GrinitchSpinach · 05/09/2019 21:42

Belated update:

The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Soule's (et al) complaint.

In the letter, the OCR says it will investigate whether the CIAC and the Glastonbury Board of Education have “denied equal athletic benefits and opportunities to girls” through the transgender participation policy.

The OCR said it will also investigate whether the CIAC retaliated against one of the complainants for her advocacy against the transgender policy by informing her in March, 2019 that the CIAC’s executive director would no longer accept communications from her.

And OCR said it will look into whether the Glastonbury district “retaliated” against a student when, the letter says, her track coach replaced her on a sprint medley team in Feb. 2019; told her and her parents that he could not give a good report to college coaches about her; and denied her a position as a team captain.

www.middletownpress.com/middletown/article/Federal-agency-to-investigate-CT-transgender-high-14300744.php

The decision to investigate is no guarantee that the Office will find in the girls' favor, but this is a vital first step if the federal government is ever to stand up for girls in public education.

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Muststopfaffing · 23/06/2019 20:56

Could someone on Twitter draw Martina Navratilova’s attention to this? I imagine her support would be much appreciated.
Courage calls to courage.

pinchpoint · 23/06/2019 20:49

Hats off to Selina Soule. She could make herstory here. I will be watching this closely as it develops.

FermatsTheorem · 23/06/2019 20:42

"No one is hurt." The girls who are deprived of medals, opportunities to advance, scholarships = "no one" in the opinion of these organizations. The misogyny could hardly be starker.

Yes, Grinitch. How can these people not see it?

TowelNumber42 · 23/06/2019 20:33

Yes, if Andraya didn't get a place in the race she's hurt in awful awful ways. Totally intolerable. It excludes her from sport. If Selina doesn't get a place in the race then that's OK, her pain is irrelevant.

Same old same old. Make the people with the penises happy then see if there's space for anyone else. Straightforward patriarchy.

GrinitchSpinach · 23/06/2019 19:24

Right on cue, ACLU of Connecticut and Planned Parenthood tweet in support of the male athletes.

"No one is hurt." The girls who are deprived of medals, opportunities to advance, scholarships = "no one" in the opinion of these organizations. The misogyny could hardly be starker.

Connecticut high school athletes file Title IX complaint over mixed sex competition
Connecticut high school athletes file Title IX complaint over mixed sex competition
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SarahTancredi · 19/06/2019 19:21

What a brave young woman selina is. This should not be happening. At all.Angry

Ereshkigal · 19/06/2019 19:07

Selina Thanks so brave.

FermatsTheorem · 19/06/2019 18:59

That video is heartbreaking, Shoots.

ShootsFruitAndLeaves · 19/06/2019 17:54
BickerinBrattle · 19/06/2019 15:28

That’s right. Title IX requires dollar-for-dollar equivalency between the amounts spent on girls and on boys. The university I attended wanted to start an American football team but didn’t because it’s such an expensive sport to manage, and they’d have had to spend an equally large sum on women’s sports. They were okay with allocating the funding for men but balked at coughing up the same for women. Needless to say, women were blamed for the thwarted dreams of would-be football champions.

IANAL, but I don’t see how the dollar amounts spent on the two male athletes don’t unbalance that equivalency UNLESS the court rules that they are female under the law. Title IX clearly uses the word “sex”; there’s no reference to gender at all.

AlwaysComingHome · 19/06/2019 15:05

Title IX was intended to divide funding equally between male and female athletes, not between males who compete in male sports and males who compete in female sports.

GrinitchSpinach · 19/06/2019 14:58

The section re 10 track titles (in the state) previously being held by 10 separate female athletes, over the last 20 years, now being broken and held by 1 single trans male athlete underlines why trans men in women’s sport is wrong.

I agree, IdaDown.

I hope this action doesn't cause them any harm

Unfortunately Selina reports that she is already facing retaliation by coaches for speaking out. The other complainants are remaining anonymous because they fear similar retaliation (or worse).

From the complaint:

On an ongoing basis, Selina fears retaliation. As she has explained, “Everyone is afraid of retaliation from the media, from the kids around their school, from other athletes, coaches, schools, administrators . . . They don’t want to drag attention to themselves, and they don’t want to be seen as a target for potential bullying and threats.”

52. Another female Connecticut high school athlete who was too afraid of retaliation to let her name be used expressed the same fear: “There’s really nothing else you can do except get super frustrated and roll your eyes, because it’s really hard to even come out and talk in public just because . . . just immediately you’ll just be shut down.”

53. Unfortunately, Selina perceives that since her parents complained of sex discrimination to school officials, Selina has experienced actual retaliation, as her track coach has forced her to perform workouts that are not generally applied for short-distance sprinters, and has forbidden her from competing in any high school track and field event unless she completes them. The coach has never imposed that kind of condition on Selina before. Worse, a coach told Selina and her father that if a college recruiter asked him about Selina, “he would not be able to give a good report about her.”

Full text (PDF) here:
www.adfmedia.org/files/SouleComplaintOCR.pdf

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IdaDown · 19/06/2019 14:00

The section re 10 track titles (in the state) previously being held by 10 separate female athletes, over the last 20 years, now being broken and held by 1 single trans male athlete underlines why trans men in women’s sport is wrong.

jay55 · 19/06/2019 13:48

Wishing them all the best. I hope this action doesn't cause them any harm, I worry about the violence we have seen against women who speak out.

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