(WATCH) Transgender Sports-Update


An update to our reporting on the controversy over transgender athletes. The House has voted to ban males from competing on female sports teams. Incoming President Trump supported the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.” It would withhold federal funds from any school that allows males who consider themselves female to compete on girls’ teams. The debate over allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports has been fought on a state by state basis for years. Our coverage goes back over 4 years, to a decision in Connecticut that allowed the crossover. Several female athletes challenged the policy in court.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

Sharyl: We were there last February, when the high school athletes lined up in New Haven, Connecticut for the 55 meter dash at the state track and field championships.

Chelsea Mitchell, the blonde with a red shirt in the middle was positioned next to Terry Miller, orange top, blue shorts… who ran on the boys’ team until about three years ago.

Same with Andraya Yearwood. In 2018, months after both athletes switched over from the boys’ team, they dominated the girls’ state championships, placing first and second. Together, they’ve won 15 state championship races since 2017.

Here they’re speaking to ABC.

ABC Correspondent: At what point do you decide actually it’s more appropriate for me to be on the girls team and competing with other girls?

Andraya Yearwood: I decided the summer before 9th Grade

Sharyl: But what some see as an important step forward for transgender athletes, others see as infringing upon the rights of non-transgender girls.

Sharyl: Have all of you lost races and competitions to biological males?

Selena Soule: Yes. We all have.

Sharyl: How many races?

Soule: Too many to count.

Sharyl: Chelsea Mitchell is one of the fastest sprinters in the country.

She’s shown here in 2018, losing the 55 meter dash to Miller in red on one side, and Yearwood on the other.

The next year, Mitchell again loses to Miller in orange, and Yearwood to the left.

Chelsea Mitchell: It’s been very unfair for me and the other girl competitors to race against them. I personally lost four state championships to all New England awards and countless other opportunities because of it.

Sharyl: Mitchell, and two other athletes, Alana Smith, and Selena Soule, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Connecticut policy that lets students switch from the boys’ team to the girls’ team without surgery or hormone treatments.

Alana Smith: I would say that it’s unfair that us biological females have drawn against biological males, and that we really just want fairness in our sport and we just want change to happen.

Watch here.


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