Lawsuit highlighting 2020 graduates Miller and Yearwood reaches resolution, but lawyers with Alliance Defending Freedom could ask U.S. Supreme Court to review

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

A federal appeals court dismissed a challenge Friday of 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 two transgender athletes named in the lawsuit were Terry Miller, who competed for Bloomfield, and Andraya Yearwood, who competed for Cromwell.

Both student-athletes graduated high school in 2020 and opted not to compete at the collegiate level.

A three-judge panel at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City ruled in favor of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), the state’s governing body of high school sports, and several local school districts sued by the cisgender girls and their families.

According to the ctpublic.org, “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.”

“The CIAC was confident in its inclusionary policies from the onset of this case,” said AS-CIAC Executive Director Dr. Glenn Lungarini in a written statement. “The CIAC is pleased with the decision of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the lower court's dismissal."

The plaintiffs appealed to the 2nd Circuit after U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny dismissed a lawsuit in April of 2021 that was challenging the CIAC policy that allows transgender girls to compete with cisgender girls in interscholastic competition.

Lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented the four cisgender competitors, responded to the ruling Friday by indicating they could be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.