On my last day of guest blogging, I want to begin by returning to the question of trans females participating on female-only teams and what, if anything, Title IX has to say about it.
On December 16, 2022, the Second Circuit decided a case, Soule v. Connecticut Ass'n of Schools, Inc., in which high school female athletes claimed that the defendant violated Title IX by permitting trans females to compete against them in track and field. The case was dismissed, primarily on justiciability grounds, and the Second Circuit affirmed. The interesting part for me though, was the positions taken by the federal government in the district court.
During the Trump Administration, the federal government took plaintiffs' side, apprising the court that an investigation by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education had concluded that there likely was a Title IX violation. When the Biden Administration came in, it withdrew that position and apprised the court that the DOE's enforcement letters were unauthorized because they had not been approved by OMB. The Biden Administration has subsequently taken the position that Title IX requires schools receiving federal funds to allow trans females to participate on female-only teams.
