JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In an effort to enforce the laws as written, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined 22 other states in filing an amicus brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit supporting the rights given by Title IX for female athletes to have an equal chance to be champions in sports.
“As Attorney General, I will enforce the laws as written, which includes defending the rights of female athletes explicitly protected by Title IX,” said Attorney General Bailey. “It is outrageous that women are being forced to compete against biological males for the sake of ‘inclusivity.’ My office will use every legal mechanism available to defend women’s sports.”
General Bailey and the other states filed this brief in support of female athletes in Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools, where athletic associations allowed biological males to compete against biological females. This policy resulted in biological males winning thirteen of fourteen track-and-field championships that female athletes would have otherwise won.
In the amicus brief, the attorneys general argue for the protection of female sports and the correction of the district court’s flawed understanding of Title IX. The brief states that the word “sex” in Title IX refers to the “immutable biological binary between males and females that is observed at birth, not to the subjective concept of gender identity.” The attorneys general also assert that the defendants violated female athletes’ Title IX rights by “repeatedly denying females an equal chance to be champions.”
Attorney General Bailey joined attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia in filing the brief.