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As our students go back to school this year, some girls may be surprised to find boys on their sports teams. In May, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Board of Directors approved language that allows students to compete in athletics as a gender that is not their biological gender. According to the Gender Identity Student Eligibility Checklist & Forms page on the NCHSAA website, the student must submit a Gender Identity Request, along with other materials including:

• “A written statement from the student affirming the consistent gender identity and expression of which the student relates;
• Documentation from individuals such as, but not limited to parents, friends and/or teachers, which affirm that the actions, attitudes, and manner demonstrate the student’s consistent gender identification;
• A complete list of all the student’s prescribed, non-prescribed or over the counter, treatments or medications relative to the gender identity of the student;
• Written verification from an appropriate health-care professional (e.g. physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, school nurse, etc.) of the student’s consistent gender identification; include any other social/emotional information from health care professionals that would assist the committee. Such information must be on office letterhead of the health-care professional, and include contact information.”

This request will then be sent to the “NCHSAA Gender Identity Committee for consideration. The Committee will approve the Request if it finds that the student genuinely identifies as the gender indicated in the Request.”

“In cases where a Gender Identity Request has been approved:

• The student will be declared eligible to participate based on the student’s gender identity;
• It shall be the responsibility of the school to comply with all state and federal mandates/laws.”

There is no language in the policy that requires testing for levels of testosterone.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights agreed this week to investigate a similar policy in Connecticut, after three female athletes filed a complaint about what they call illegal discrimination that violates their rights under federal law Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

Title IX works to ensure that women and girls have equal opportunities in education and athletics. But, as Denise Harle of Alliance Defending Freedom shares on this week’s Family Policy Matters radio show and podcast, this Connecticut policy “is destroying nearly 50 years of advances for women under Title IX.” Seventeen other states have these sorts of policies in place, and Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a federal Title IX complaint on behalf of the three female athletes from Connecticut. Harle says she hopes the federal government will rule in the girls’ favor, and that those states with similar policies will change them when they recognize they are violating Title IX.

“Ultimately, everyone here is seeking what they feel is equal opportunity and equality,” Harle continues. “But what we do know is that it’s not equal to have boys racing against girls. […] Even those who have begun therapy, or have been doing it for some time are still absolutely dominating, which just shows how unfair it is. There has to be some other method to allow young people identifying as transgender to participate in some way that doesn’t steal all the opportunities from girls.”

Listen in as Denise Harle speaks with NC Family Communications Director Traci DeVette Griggs on this week’s Family Policy Matters radio show and podcast. There are several ways you can listen, or read the transcript!

• Subscribe to our podcast, so you can hear our interviews every week. Search on iTunes or your podcast app for: “NC Family’s Family Policy Matters” podcast.
• Tune in to one of the radio stations that carry Family Policy Matters (see the list below),
• Click here to read a transcript of the show, or
• Click here to listen online.

Image features High school athlete Selina Soule, one of the three girls who filed a complaint 
with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.