The actual 45 page letter is here
www.wnpr.org/sites/wnpr/files/202005/ciac__et_al__letter_of_impending_enforcement_action__final.pdf
One complainant student-athlete explained to OCR that no matter how hard she trained,
she felt that she could never be good enough to defeat Students A and B. She also stated that
female student-athletes were missing out on great opportunities to succeed and felt that female
student-athletes could be “completely eradicated from their own sports.” Another complainant
student-athlete explained to OCR that she felt that she could not fairly compete against Students
A and B, because they had a physical advantage over her. In this sense, they were denied the
opportunities that Connecticut male student-athletes had of being able to compete, on a level
playing field, for the benefits that flow from success in competitive athletics. OCR determined
that the participation of Students A and B in girls’ track events resulted in lost benefits and
opportunities for female student-athletes.
Glastonbury, Canton, and Danbury placed female student-athletes in athletic events
against male student-athletes, resulting in competitive disadvantages for female student-athletes.
The athletic events in which the female student-athletes competed were coeducational; female
student-athletes were denied the opportunity to compete in events that were exclusively female,
whereas male student-athletes were able to compete in events that were exclusively male.
Accordingly, the districts’ participation in the athletic events sponsored by the CIAC denied
female student-athletes athletic opportunities that were provided to male student-athletes
On February 17, 2019, Parent 3 sent an email to the CIAC stating that the transgender policy
affected the outcome of the CIAC State Open Girls Indoor Track Championship held on February
16, 2019. Specifically, he stated that the performance of a transgender athlete “with all the
physiological and anatomical attributes of a male athlete” in the Championship had enabled
Bloomfield High School to win the team championship over Glastonbury
He further stated that at the New England Regional Indoor Track Championship, held on March
2, 2019, a biologically male athlete finished first in the 55-meter and 300-meter sprints and had
helped Bloomfield win first place over Glastonbury in the girls’ 4 x 400 meter relay.
Parent 3 stated that when Bloomfield’s girls’ 4 x 400 team recently
competed in the New Balance Nationals, it did so without the participation of its biologically male
athlete, and that this resulted in a slower time than Bloomfield’s team had achieved at the New
England championships, when the biologically male athlete had competed
During an interview with OCR, Student 1 stated that she and other female student-athletes with
whom she had spoken found it very difficult to go into a race knowing that no matter what they
do, they would never be good enough to win. In a video provided by the Complainant, Student 1
asserted that by permitting transgender athletes to participate in girls’ track competitions, she and
other athletes had lost opportunities to compete at track meets, to win titles, and to gain attention
from college coaches.
The Complainant asserted that, pursuant to the Revised Transgender Participation Policy and the
resulting participation of Students A and B, the CIAC denied Student 2 opportunities to advance
to higher levels of competition and/or win titles at events such as the 2017 Outdoor State Open
Championship, held on June 6, 2017; the New England Regional Championship, held on June 10,
2017; the Class S Indoor Championship held on February 10, 2018; the Outdoor State Open
Championship, held on June 4, 2018; the Class S Indoor Championship, held on February 7, 2019;
the Indoor State Open Championship, held on February 16, 2019; the Class S Outdoor
Championship, held on May 30, 2019; and the Outdoor State Open Championship, held on June
3, 2019.
Student 2’s mother (Parent 1) noted that some
biologically female track student-athletes had lost out on media recognition because the winner of
an event at the state championships gets the opportunity to be interviewed by reporters, while the
second and third place finishers do not. Specifically, Parent 1 stated that at the state championships
there is a bank of reporters waiting to interview the winners and the winners’ names are put in the
local papers, and that student-athletes typically do not receive any media recognition when they
come in second. Further, Student 2 stated that the participation of Student A, in particular, had an
impact on her ability to set class records for the CIAC Class S 100-meter and 200-meter races.
During school year 2017-2018, in the Indoor State Open Championships, Student B [trans] participated in the 55-meter dash. In the preliminary for the 55-meter dash, Student B
placed 2nd The top 8 finishers advanced to the finals;
however, ... Student B’s finish in the top 8 in the preliminary denied an
opportunity for the 9th place finisher to advance to the finals.
In the finals of
the 100-meter dash, Student A placed 1st, Student B placed 2nd; Student 2 placed 4th;
Page 19 of 45 – Case Nos. 01-19-4025, 01-19-1252, 01-20-1003, 01-20-1004, 01-20-1005, 01-
20-1006, and 01-20-1007
and Student 1 placed 6th. The top six finishers were awarded medals and advanced to
the New England Regional Championships, including Student 1 and Student 2;
During school year 2018-2019, in the Indoor Class S Statewide Championships,
Student A and Student B participated in the 55-meter dash. In the preliminary for the
55-meter dash, Student A placed 1st and Student B placed 2nd. The top 7 finishers
advanced to the finals, including Student 2 (who placed 3rd); however, Student A’s and
Student B’s finishes in the top 7 in the preliminary denied an opportunity for two female
student-athletes to advance to the finals. In the finals of the 55-meter dash, Student A
placed 1st, Student 2 placed 2nd, and Student B placed 3rd. The top 14 finishers
advanced to the State Open Championship. While all three student-athletes advanced
to the State Open Championship, Student A’s and Student B’s participation denied an
opportunity to two female student-athletes to participate in the State Open
Championship for the 55-meter dash.38
however, Student A’s and Student B’s finishes in 1st and 2nd place, respectively, denied
an opportunity for two female student-athletes to advance to the New England Regional
Championships, along with the benefit of receiving a medal for the Outdoor State Open
Championships.
and it continues detailing numerous occasions where girls were denied opportunities because of the presence of biological males.
In an email dated January 27, 2019, to School 1 administrators, Parent 3 alleged that Student A,
whom Parent 3 identified as a boy who identifies as a girl, was participating in track and creating
an unfair and unsafe environment in girls track. He provided, as an example, that during the 4 x
400 relay event on January 26, 2019, in the second leg, Student A “had physicality” with a runner
from Windsor, resulting in a significant lead for Bloomfield. The student-athlete running the last
leg of the relay for Windsor was unable to close the gap that Student A had created. He also
provided an example that at the Yale Invitational held on January 12, 2019, a student-athlete came
in second to Student A, despite having run a faster time than 182 other girls in the 300-meter sprint.
In an email dated February 17, 2019, to School 1 administrators and the CIAC Executive Director,
among others, Parent 3 asserted that the Revised Transgender Participation Policy directly affected
the outcome of School 1’s winning the 2018-2019 Indoor State Open Championship held on
February 16, 2019. Specifically, Parent 3 stated that School A2 earned the highest number of
points due to the participation of Student A, who earned 20 points for the team by herself. Parent
3 alleged that, but for Student A’s participation, School 1 would have won the state title.
Specifically, Parent 3 asserted that School A2 was only able to win because Student A placed first
in two separate events, earning School A2’s team 20 of its total 54 points.
Parent 4 further stated that
recognizing the transgender athletes’ results insulted the current cisgender athlete record holders
Parent 3 stated that at the New England
Regionals on March 2, 2019, a Bloomfield transgender athlete (Student A) placed first in the 55-
meter and 300-meter dash events. He also stated that by participating in the 4 x 400-meter relay
event, Student A provided Bloomfield with a .06 second lead over Glastonbury in the final results.
He then noted that at the New Balance National championships held over
March 8-10, 2019, Glastonbury’s 4 x 400 relay team came in 14th in the nation, while Bloomfield’s
came in 34th, running without Student A.
With respect to the three student-athletes on whose behalf the complaint was filed (Student 1,
Student 2, and Student 3), Student A’s and Student B’s 1st and 2nd place finishes, respectively, in
the preliminaries of the 2018-2019 Indoor State Open Championship for the 55-meter dash, denied
Student 1, who placed 8th, the opportunity of advancing to the finals in this event, since only the
top 7 finishers advanced to the finals. Student A’s and Student B’s participation in girls’
interscholastic track in the state of Connecticut, pursuant to the Revised Transgender Participation
Policy had the most significant impact on Student 2. Specifically, Student A’s 1st place finish, in
the finals of the 2018-2019 Outdoor Class S Statewide Championship for the 100-meter dash and
the 200-meter dash, denied Student 2, who placed 2nd in both events, the benefit of a 1st place
finish; and Student A’s and Student B’s 1st and 2nd place finishes, in the 2018-2019 Indoor State
Open Championship for the 55-meter dash, denied an opportunity for Student 2, who placed 3rd
,
to place 1st in the event and receive the benefit of a 1st place medal. Denying a female student a
chance to win a championship is inconsistent with Title IX’s mandate of equal opportunity for
both sexes.48