Court to reconsider Connecticut's transgender athlete policy
A federal appeals court has reinstated a challenge to Connecticut’s policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in girls high school sports, two months after a three-judge panel upheld the rules. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City said the full court will rehear the appeal of four cisgender runners who said they were unfairly forced to race against transgender athletes in high school competitions. Christiana Kiefer, a lawyer with the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the four Connecticut cisgender athletes, said the group was pleased by the court's decision.
news.yahoo.comAttorney blasts court’s ruling in St. Johns County transgender bathroom fight, school superintendent ‘pleased’
After a five-year legal battle, a sharply divided federal appeals court Friday upheld a St. Johns County School Board policy that prevented a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms at a high school.
Court upholds Connecticut's transgender athlete policy
A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a challenge to Connecticut's policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in girls high school sports, rejecting arguments by four cisgender runners who said they were unfairly forced to race against transgender athletes. The panel said the four cisgender athletes lacked standing to sue — in part because their claims that they were deprived of wins, state titles and athletic scholarship opportunities were speculative. “All four Plaintiffs regularly competed at state track championships as high school athletes, where Plaintiffs had the opportunity to compete for state titles in different events,” the decision said.
news.yahoo.comSex Discrimination Case in Hawaii Could Change High School Sports Across the U.S.
EWA BEACH, Hawaii — It was rough enough when Ashley Badis and her teammates in girls’ water polo had to practice in the ocean, battling fickle winds and choppy waves because their high school had failed to provide them a pool. But it was humiliating, Badis said, when she learned about female athletes on other teams lugging their gear around school all day, running to a nearby Burger King to use the bathroom, or changing clothes under the bleachers or on the bus. The boys had no such worries beca
news.yahoo.comSen. Tim Scott introduces legislation to withhold funding from schools with 'secretive' gender transitions
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., pushed a bill to ensure parental rights over their child’s education by “preventing schools from concealing information about students’ gender from their parents.”
foxnews.comU.S. agencies temporarily barred from enforcing guidance protecting LGBTQ individuals from discrimination
A federal judge in Tennessee has issued an order barring two U.S. agencies from enforcing new federal guidance extending enforcement of discrimination in schools and workplaces based on gender identity.
cbsnews.comMother plans to sue school, Duval County school district & principal over alleged racial discrimination
The mother of a student at Jacksonville’s Mandarin Middle School announced she will sue Duval County Public Schools, MMS’s principal, and its dean over a series of alleged incidents of racial discrimination and retaliation.
Alleged sex assault on school band trip prompts legal split
The full panel of 15 appellate judges in Richmond has narrowly upheld a former northern Virginia high school student's appeal to have her lawsuit against the school system reinstated after an alleged sexual assault on a band trip. The narrow 9-6 decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday prompted a pair of rare, written dissents from two judges who say the decision vastly expands the liability that school systems face under Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination in public education. Dissenting judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote that reinstating the lawsuit “will only further contribute to the dramatic loss of control that states and localities are able to exercise over their own school systems.”
news.yahoo.comLawsuit against Liberty alleges mishandling of sex assaults
Twelve women filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, and fostering an unsafe campus environment. “Liberty University has intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Liberty’s policies,” the lawsuit said. The women all filed suit anonymously and are identified as Jane Doe 1-12, now living in states across the country.
news.yahoo.comFlorida’s transgender athlete ban challenged by Broward 13-year-old and her parents
A 13-year-old Broward County soccer player and her parents are challenging a new state law that bans transgender athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams, arguing that it is unconstitutional and “ignores basic medical science” about trans students.
news.yahoo.comEducation Department says Title IX protects transgender students
In a reversal from the Trump Administration, the Department of Education under President Biden on Wednesday issued an updated interpretation of Title IX, the law that protects students from sex-based discrimination in federally-funded schools, determining that the law applies to LGBTQ students.
news.yahoo.comAttorney weighs in on investigation of discrimination complaint over St. Johns County school dress code
We’re looking into what will legally happen for the St. Johns County School District now that the U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into a complaint that the school district discriminated against female students through its enforcement of the dress code.
In AP survey, ADs raise worries about women's college sports
A new AP survey of athletic directors and conversations with ADs and conference commissioners during March Madness show concern about what would happen to women's college sports under proposals that would put more money in the pockets of some athletes.
Bill seeks to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Bills have been filed in 25 states across the country, including Florida, seeking to ban transgender women from competing in women’s school sports. The legislation, which would prevent transgender women from competing in women’s sports, follows multiple instances of transgender athletes winning titles in state and national competitions. The House version of the bill would ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports outright, whereas the Senate version would allow transgender athletes to compete provided they maintain a low testosterone level. AdEskamani said even though there are some restrictions in place for transgender athletes on the professional stage, she believes policies concerning children and student-athletes should be treated differently. In Connecticut, there is an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging whether allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports violates Title IX, a federal civil rights law that aims to shield people from gender-based discrimination.
AP study: Nearly 90% of esports scholarships going to men
Colleges and universities rushing to invest in the booming arena of varsity esports are overwhelmingly committing opportunities and scholarships to male players, according to data collected by The Associated Press. Boise State was among the more equal schools in the AP's survey, with 16 male players, five female players and three who identified as nonbinary. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)Colleges and universities rushing to invest in the booming arena of varsity esports are overwhelmingly committing opportunities and scholarships to male players, according to data collected by The Associated Press. Many schools, intentionally or not, have sidestepped those restrictions by housing their esports program outside of the athletic department. AdBoise State was among the more equal schools in the AP's survey, with 16 male players, five female players and three who identified as nonbinary.
Biden order could change how colleges handle sex misconduct
Biden also signed a second executive order formally establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, which his transition team had announced before he took office. Any effort to rewrite DeVos’ rules would have to go through a federal rulemaking process that can take years to complete. AdRepublicans slammed Biden’s move and defended DeVos’ rules. The scope of cases that colleges must address is also likely to be expanded again under the Biden administration, he said. Biden is starting the process even as DeVos' policy faces ongoing legal challenges.
States sue to block DeVos' campus sexual assault overhaul
Democratic attorneys general in more than a dozen states filed a federal lawsuit Thursday attempting to block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' new policy guiding schools and colleges in the handling of sexual assault cases. The lawsuit alleges that DeVos' policy undercuts existing mandates in Title IX, the 1972 law barring discrimination based on sex in education. It also challenges DeVos' order to implement the rules by Aug. 14, saying the deadline is impracticable during a pandemic. DeVos' new policy bolsters the rights of the accused, narrows the definition of sexual harassment and allows students to question one another at live hearings, among other changes. It says the policy forbids schools from addressing isolated cases of abuse because the new definition of sexual harassment is limited to pervasive cases.
Connecticut transgender policy found to violate Title IX
HARTFORD, Conn. A Connecticut policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in girls sports violates the civil rights of female athletes, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has ruled. The office said in a 45-page letter that it may seek to withhold federal funding over the policy, which allows transgender athletes to participate as the gender with which they identify. It said the policy is a violation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that guarantees equal education opportunities for women, including in athletics. They were also seeking to erase all records set by the transgender athletes. Several other states have polices barring the participation of transgender athletes and Idaho recently became the first state to pass a law banning transgender women from competing in womens sports.
Transgender bathroom ban heard by federal appeals court
Grimm's lawsuit alleged that the school board violated Grimm's equal protection rights as well as Title IX, the federal policy that protects against gender-based discrimination. He graduated in 2017 from Gloucester High School, located in a mostly rural area about 60 miles (95 kilometers) east of Richmond. (T)here is no question that the Boards policy discriminates against transgender students on the basis of their gender noncomformity, Allen wrote. Under the policy, all students except for transgender students may use restrooms corresponding with their gender identity, she continued. Transgender students are singled out, subjected to discriminatory treatment, and excluded from spaces where similarly situated students are permitted to go.