Colorado school districts settle with sports league over trans athlete issue

A coalition of Colorado school districts reached a settlement with the state’s high school sports league that ensures the districts can enforce rules to protect girls’ sports from biological male trans athletes. 

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Col., announced the settlement in a post on X, Thursday. 

“Biological men NEVER belong in biological women’s sports, period. The Colorado High School Activities Association finally made the right decision and will STOP penalizing school districts that protect women’s sports,” Crank wrote. 

Colorado’s District 49 led a lawsuit against the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) in May, challenging Colorado state laws and CHSAA bylaws that required schools to allow transgender student-athletes to participate in teams matching their gender identity.

District 49 had just instituted its own policy classifying all school sports teams by “biological sex,” banning males from playing on teams or sharing locker rooms and hotel rooms with females. 

Colorado state law and CHSAA bylaws are one of many in blue states that require schools to allow students to play on sports teams and use facilities that match their gender identity, not their sex at birth.

TRACK STAR WHO PROTESTED TRANS ATHLETE ALLEGES SHE WASN’T GIVEN HER MEDAL FOR MONTHS UNTIL SHE FILED A LAWSUIT

“Political culture is far out of balance on gender issues. Our lawsuit seeks a rational correction to excessive accommodations,” District 49 Superintendent Peter Hilts told Fox News Digital at the time. “Our state athletic association simultaneously advocates equity and discrimination. We asked them to resolve that discrepancy, and they declined, so we were compelled to pursue a legal ruling.”

Attorney General Philip J. Weiser’s office responded to the lawsuit at the time, telling Fox News Digital, “The attorney general is committed to defending Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws. The attorney general’s office has no further comment on this ongoing litigation.”

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In exchange for this recent settlement, the plaintiff school districts are now dismissing their claims against the CHSAA and agree to pay the association $60,000 to help cover its operational and legal costs from the lawsuit, according to Colorado Public Radio. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the CHSAA for comment. 

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