(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The largest school district in El Paso County has filed a lawsuit to clear the way for its new ban on transgender student athletes by overturning state law and policies.
Community members are raising their concerns about how the largest school district in El Paso County will enforce a newly passed ban on transgender student athletes.
School District 49’s board of education passed the ban on Thursday, May 8, prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in sports that don’t align with their biological sex. It appears it is the first district in the state to do so, but not everyone is on board.
“The real point of it is just to send a message, and that message is that trans folks are not welcome in D49,” said Ollie Glessner the Communications Advocacy Director with Inside out.
“I think the clear message that this policy sends to our community is that the district is going to honor its obligations under Title IX to support girls and to support their access and opportunity in sports,” said Superintendent Peter Hilts.
The school district is moving forward with a ban on transgender student athletes.
“Our board decided to adopt a policy which ensures that when girls are competing in athletics, they have the right and the protection that they’ll be competing against other girls,” said Hilts.
But not everyone in the community is on board with the new policy.
“The truth is, even having discussions like this, where their identities are discussed in a way that is dismissive, that’s threatening, that’s cruel,” said Glessner.
But it is not clear how the new policy will be enforced and if it will apply to visiting student athletes, or how the district would identify someone as transgender.
“Honestly it’s going to be body shaming, it’s going to be disruptive, and it’s going to be really bad for team cohesion,” said Glessner.
“They will not write a policy for a small fraction of the student body,” said the Superintendent.
The district has more than 26,000 students, and it’s the 10th largest school district in Colorado. But superintendent Hilts believes transgender children make up a small percentage of transgender students.
“99.91% of students in District 49 tell us when they register if they’re a boy or a girl and then they tell us again when they apply to participate in a sport and again when they get a sports physical. So, we have a lot of data that lets us know whether an individual student is a boy or a girl,” said Hilts.
He also added that the district will still protect transgender students who go to school in D49.
“We would continue to be responsive if they made requests for accommodations, and in all cases, we’d want to be sensitive and act with care and respect,” said Hilts.
But Glessner said there “is not a way to do that politely and respectfully.”
The governing body for high school sports in Colorado has no rules banning transgender athletes, but Superintendent Hilts tells FOX21 News that other districts in our state are watching what is happening in D49 so they can make their own policies.
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