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On May 22, 2022, USA Today published an op-ed by former Connecticut high school runner Chelsea Mitchell. Mitchell is one of three young women who are challenging the Connecticut regulation which allows transwomen (biological men) to compete in womenâs and girls’ sporting events. USA Today chose to alter the wording of Mitchell’s piece without informing her and without her consent.
USA Today’s reason for the unauthorized changes was their objection to Mitchell’s use of the word “male” in identifying the natal sex of the transgender athletes she was forced to compete against. USA Today felt that using the word “male” was âhurtfulâ to transgender women. Words have meaning, as does biology. And in the effort to protect womenâs and girls’ athletics, we cannot allow political correctness to silence reason or biological truth. With that in mind, we feel that Chelsea Mitchell’s own words in defense of her rights as a female athlete deserve to be heard, and we share them with you today.
I Was the Fastest Girl in Connecticut. But Transgender Athletes Made it an Unfair Fight.
By Chelsea Mitchell
Itâs February 2020. Iâm crouched at the starting line of the high school girlsâ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. Iâm running in the state championship, and Iâm ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.
Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything Iâve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because thereâs a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.
I won that race, and I’m grateful. But time after time, I have lost.
Iâve lost four womenâs state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to male runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two male runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.
Thatâs a devastating experience. It tells me that Iâm not good enough; that my body isnât good enough; and that no matter how hard I work, I am unlikely to succeed, because Iâm a woman.
That experience is why three of my fellow female athletes and I filed a lawsuit last year with Alliance Defending Freedom against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC): because girls and women shouldnât be stripped of their right to fair competition.
The CIAC allows biological males to compete in girlsâ and womenâs sports. As a result, two males began racing in girlsâ track in 2017. In the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons alone, these males took 15 womenâs state track championship titles (titles held in 2016 by nine different girls) and more than 85 opportunities to participate in higher level competitions that belonged to female track athletes.
Thatâs because males have massive physical advantages. Their bodies are simply bigger and stronger on average than female bodies. Itâs obvious to every single girl on the track.
But Connecticut officials are determined to ignore the obvious. And unfortunately, a federal district court recently dismissed our case. The courtâs decision to do so tells women and girls that their feelings and opportunities donât matter, and that they canât expect anyone to stand up for their dignity and their rights.
Thatâs wrong. And it chips away at womenâs confidence and our belief in our own abilities.
Itâs happened to me over and over. Every time I walk up to the starting line, I try to tell myself that I can overcome the unfair odds â I can win, even though the race is stacked against me.
But besides the psychological toll of experiencing unfair losses over and over, the CIACâs policy has more tangible harms for women. It robs girls of the chance to race in front of college scouts who show up for elite metes, and to compete for the scholarships and opportunities that come with college recruitment. Iâll never know how my own college recruitment was impacted by losing those four state championship titles to a male. When colleges looked at my record, they didnât see the fastest girl in Connecticut. They saw a second- or third-place runner.
And itâs not just happening to me. My friend and fellow plaintiff Selina Soule was bumped from qualifying for the state championship 55-meter final and an opportunity to qualify for the New England championship by a male runner in 2019. Meanwhile, Alanna Smith, an incredibly talented female athlete, was the second-place female runner in the 200-meter at the New England Regional Championships, but was dropped to third behind a male competitor.
Itâs discouraging that the federal district court has decided that these experiences â these lost opportunities â simply donât matter.
But Iâm not beaten yet. And neither are my fellow female athletes.
Through our ADF attorneys, my fellow athletes and I are appealing the federal district courtâs ruling. Weâre taking our case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, where we are going to ask once again for the court to recognize our right to fair competition â a right that Title IX has promised to girls and women for 50 years. And weâre fighting not just for ourselves, but for all female athletes.
So as we prepare for this next step in the case, Iâm settling into my starting blocks again, but for a different kind of race. And this time, Iâm confident that we can win.
Chelsea Mitchell is an award-winning athlete from Canton High School in Connecticut. She is running track at the collegiate level.
Following USA Todayâs decision to alter Chelseaâs op-ed, the article with the correct wording appeared on the Alliance Defending Freedom website.
Nina EJune 10, 2021
Cheering you on Chelsea!! Grateful for your courage to stand up for this fight.
Jim WinebrennerJune 9, 2021
People need simply to stop pretending that living beings have "gender" in the first place. Sex is the word to refer to your being either male or female, every individual is either one or the other, and certainly not as a result of their own choice. There is no such thing as a "trans" woman or a "trans" man. There are only men and women, in spite of the tragically unfortunate fact that some men and women like to pretend they are the other. Everyone needs to stop patronizing the confusion.