Trans athletes drop out of California track and field championships
Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Sharp and athlete Chelsea Mitchell, who is suing the Connecticut Association of Schools for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, discuss their fight to protect female athletes.
Chelsea Mitchell, a track and field athlete who is suing the state of Connecticut for forcing her to compete against biological males in high school, weighed in on Monday after a pair of transgender athletes dropped out of a California female race amid ongoing debate over the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports.
Athletes Athena Ryan and Lorelei Barrett, both who were born male and transitioned to female, qualified for the California high school women's track and field state championships. However, both were no-shows for the preliminary finals race last week, citing backlash and concern for their well-being.
Multiple states have banned transgender student athletes from participating on the teams that align with their gender identity. (AP Photo/Samuel Metz)
In an interview on "Fox News Live" Monday, Mitchell said their school did a disservice to the transgender athletes by allowing them to compete against women in the first place, subjecting them to public scrutiny as women's sports advocates and supporters rightfully point out their "unfair" biological advantage.
"None of us asked to have these policies put in place. It shouldn’t be up to us athletes to decide these policies," Mitchell said. "At the end of the day, it is unfair these biological males are entering the female category and [that's] why our institutions need to step up and put policies in place that protect the female category."
Mitchell's comments come as she heads back to court to appeal her case challenging a Connecticut ruling that allows transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their preferred gender. Mitchell and other athletes were high school track student-athletes in 2020 when they first filed the lawsuit against the Connecticut Association of Schools, alleging that the policy allowing biological males to compete against women violated Title IX.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signs a bill in Oklahoma City that prevents transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy, File)
The Alliance Defending Freedom is now working to appeal a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny, who dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds, saying there was no dispute to resolve because the two transgender athletes have graduated, and the plaintiffs could not identify other female transgender athletes.
Mitchell's attorney, Matt Sharp, who joined her in the Fox News interview, said his client is fighting to preserve fairness in sports and ensure everyone has an opportunity to compete, "but not at the expense of female athletes."
"That's the problem with these policies whether it’s California, or the Connecticut policies that Chelsea and other athletes are challenging," he said. "When you open female sports being taken over by males you’re going to create problems, most importantly for the female athletes involved who are going to have their records lost and …that’s why we’re advocating for states to do the right thing to adopt good policies that preserve fairness in sports to give everybody a place to play but not at the expense of the female athletes like Chelsea and others."
"The hard work that Chelsea and the other female athletes were representing, matters, the records they would have had but for this policy matter," Sharp continued. "We want the court to intervene to make sure the hard work, the accomplishments of Chelsea and the other athletes are respected and that ultimately this policy is taken down so that no other young woman in Connecticut or throughout New England faces the indignity and humiliation of losing an opportunity because of a biological male competing in their sport."
Women's sports advocate Riley Gaines speaks during a discussion on transgender athletes In women's sports during a National Girls and Women in Sports day event on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 01, 2023, in Washington DC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Former college swimmer and women's sports advocate Riley Gaines questioned on Twitter Friday whether the California high school runners discovered that they "clearly possess an unfair advantage" when they no-showed for the race.
"Both boys (Athena Ryan and Lorelei Barrett) who qualified for the girls high school track and field state championship in California did not compete in prelims today.
"Did they realize they clearly possess an unfair advantage? Or is that too optimistic?" Gaines wrote in a tweet.
According to the California Interscholastic Federation's "Gender Identity Participation" policy, transgender students are permitted to compete in sports and activities that are "consistent with their gender identity."
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In March, World Athletics announced its decision to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's events at the international level. Meanwhile, the NCAA is set to soon introduce new rules, one of which would require transgender athletes to submit to routine testing.
Fox News' Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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