- Connecticut is one of many states,
that in the name of inclusiveness, allow biological males
to compete in women's sports leagues.
But is it detrimental to female athletes?
You probably know what I think about this,
having been a female athlete, especially in high school.
Now that's what, three high school
track and field stars argue
in a new lawsuit to overturn the state
Athletic Conference's transgender policy.
According to their complaint,
This reality is discrimination against girls
that directly violates the requirements of Title IX
because schools are permitting males
to compete as girls and women,
girls and women are losing competitive opportunities.
To American girls, those born with XX chromosomes,
the message is give up, you can't win.
Joining me now exclusively, I'm so happy to see them all,
it's like a Connecticut reunion here.
The high school track and field stars
behind this law suit, Chelsea Mitchell,
Alanna Smith and Selena Soule
and their attorney Christiana Holcomb.
All right Selena, I'm gonna start with you,
and it's not just because
you're a Glastonbury High School Senior,
where I went to school.
What was the final straw that sparked this legal action?
- It was just the continued unfairness in our sport.
- And you were a, you know, top, top runner
and what happened to you that made you feel like
you were, you know, being treated unfairly?
- I lost out on countless opportunities
to get placements, get titles, and qualify for further meets
to display my talents to college coaches.
- Did you actually lose competitions to meets
to male athletes, biological males?
- Every single meet that I've competed against them.
- So is that four total or more?
- Countless times.
- Oh, countless times?
We probably could count, but we will say it's a lot.
Alanna, same with you,
what, people say, what are the damages,
isn't this all about diversity inclusiveness?
- I lost out on getting runner up at meets
like states and regionals,
so I took home a bronze medal,
when I should have taken home a silver medal.
- It's really hard to stand up, Christiana,
well, you're the lawyer here representing,
I'm gonna get to everybody here on the panel,
but to Chelsea next,
who's going to William & Mary next year,
but it's really hard to stand up
for what's obvious and right.
Most people know what's right here.
- You know, I think you're exactly right.
I mean, I think courage begets courage
and it's been an incredibly courageous act
for these young women to stand up and say,
"Look, this is not fair.
"We just want to restore
"a level playing field to our sport."
- Now, we're gonna see in this video,
you guys won't be able to hear it, but you'll see it,
this is where Chelsea is competing
against a trans athlete on Friday night,
and winning, the video shows the last moments of the race.
Let's watch.
(cheering)
- Wow, well, Chelsea, congrats on William & Mary.
- Thank you.
- Excellent school.
So tell me about that race.
Did that make you feel like
maybe you didn't have to file this lawsuit,
'cause you won, after all,
or is it just kind of a one-off?
- No, not at all.
Despite my victory, I've still lost four state championships
because of this issue,
and I've lost countless other opportunities,
and there are still so many girls
that have been displaced because of this.
And so, this lawsuit is absolutely necessary
to restore fairness.
- Did you ever think
this is what you would all be up against?
And you train, I know from, you know, playing sports,
it's a lot of work, especially in track.
It is a grueling, track or crew,
that's a grueling endurance sport, or you do 55 yards,
but, you know it's a lot of training to do it, do it right.
Did you ever think that this, Alanna,
is what you'd have to compete against, as well?
- I never thought that I would have to compete
against a transgender athlete
and I never thought that my sport would be unfair
'cause we all love to run and it's just really upsetting,
what we're going through.
- We have some of the trans athletes,
who do compete against you all, defending themselves.
Let's watch.
- I love track because of the community within track.
- I love track because I feel like
I'm a part of a second family.
It's like another bond that you experience.
- We're female, so we wouldn't run on any other team
but the female team.
- Yeah, are we not human like everybody else?
How do you think we feel?
We go through this every day.
- Selena, thoughts on that?
- This isn't about the athletes,
it's about the current Connecticut policy,
and that it needs to be changed.
- Well, but they say it is about them.
They say, "We're women, and we want to run as women."
Although, I do have to put up the physical advantages.
Get to reality here, 'cause I like to deal in reality.
Here are the physical advantages that men have over women,
these are physical, cannot be changed,
by hormones or anything else:
broader shoulders,
larger lung capacity,
more skeletal muscle mass,
greater bone density in arms,
upper body strength is, no doubt, a lot stronger as well.
This is just the way it is.
You guys brought in to this, kind of, defend yourselves,
and I'm thinking, this is just, again,
we talked about this earlier in another topic,
nothing to do with you,
just common sense.
And do you feel like common sense,
in these kinds of things, is just out the window?
- I definitely think that the current policy is very unfair
and that there needs to be
something done to restore fairness.
- What's the reaction of your classmates to this?
What do they say to you?
- A lot of my classmates have been very supportive of me
and they understand why I'm doing it,
even if they don't even play a sport.
They understand we decided to stand up.
- [Laura] And, same thing?
- Yes, I've gotten a whole lot of support.
- And how about nationally, what has it felt like?
- I've gotten my fair share of support
but I've also gotten my fair share of hate
but I focus, I try not to dwell on it.
- Christiana, I mean, what they do is hard,
to be at the top of their game,
and to beat a biological male at any sport,
if a biological male trains,
it's really tough to do.
Because we walked in and I was like,
okay that's a runner, that's a runner, that's a runner,
all of you are incredible athletes.
But it's just tough to do what they're doing
in today's environment.
- It absolutely is, look, they are high school girls,
they should be able to focus on their love of running,
they should be able to focus on the countless hours
they're spending training,
and not have to be forced
into the center of this controversy.
So, it's really unfair that the adults in the room,
that the CIAC, that the public high schools in Connecticut
were not willing to address this issue head-on
and ensure that girls like Chelsea and Alanna and Selena
can compete on a fair and level playing field.
- Well, I played basketball, field hockey, and softball
and let me tell you: if this rule was in place,
I probably wouldn't have had the athletic career
that I had.
And I was very fortunate to have that,
Glastonbury's a great school, Canton's a great school,
we have great schools in Connecticut,
but this is insane.
I wish you all the best.
You're all gonna do great, I know it.
You're gonna do great in college running,
and life, you have great courage,
and I wanna salute you tonight for being here.
Thank you so much.