Coalition of Colorado educators demands ban on transgender athletes in girls sports, but CHSAA maintains “neutral” stance

A coalition of Colorado district administrators and school board members is calling on CHSAA to ban transgender athletes from high school girls sports.

The association’s legal counsel indicated in a public meeting Tuesday that it would not alter its policy and plans to remain “neutral” on the issue by leaving those decisions to member schools.

On April 14, representatives from 24 school districts and charter schools wrote CHSAA “with an urgent and resolute demand: the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) must immediately adopt rules and practices to ensure that boys are not permitted to compete as girls in girls’ sports.”

The coalition includes representatives from bigger districts such as the Douglas County School District, Academy School District 20 and Colorado Springs School District 11, as well as representatives from schools who are not CHSAA members. It wants CHSAA to comply with President Donald Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order that he signed on Feb. 5.

That executive order outlined potential consequences for school districts and state associations that fail to comply, most notably the rescinding of federal funding.

The week that the president’s executive order was declared, CHSAA declined to say if it would change its stance on transgender athletes. Currently, under Article 3, Bylaw 300 of CHSAA’s 2024-25 bylaws, transgender athletes can compete in Colorado high school sports “free from unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identification.”

On Tuesday, during the Legislative Council Meeting at the DCSD Legacy Campus in Lone Tree, CHSAA legal counsel Alex Halpern indicated Article 3, Bylaw 300 wouldn’t change. Halpern addressed the letter and said the issue of transgender athletes in girls sports is one that CHSAA wants to “maintain a neutral position” on.

“Our position is, and has been, that ultimately the determination of who is going to be eligible to participate on a particular interscholastic team at a particular school is a decision to be made by that school, as guided by its board of education and consistent with the principals of local control of education, including eligibility for athletics,” Halpern said.

In the April 14 letter to CHSAA, the undersigned school district administrators and school board members called the implications for CHSAA not following Trump’s executive order “unmistakable.”

“By maintaining policies that permit boys to compete as girls, CHSAA risks exposing Colorado schools to federal investigations, the potential loss of critical funding, and legal liability under Title IX,” the letter read.

“Beyond compliance, however, our demand is rooted in a fundamental commitment to our female students. Girls’ sports exist to provide equitable opportunities for competition, achievement, and personal growth — opportunities that are undermined when biological males, with inherent physical advantages, are allowed to participate.”

The coalition wants CHSAA to revise its bylaws to restrict participation in girls sports to students who are “biologically female”; establish clear eligibility criteria and verification processes for participation in girls sports; and provide guidance to member schools on implementing changes that are consistent with President Trump’s executive order.

Halpern said CHSAA does not view the April 14 letter as communication from the association’s membership, because the letter was sent by a collection of individual educators rather than with the backing of whole districts. In regard to the largest school district represented in the letter, Douglas County School District — whose board president Christy Williams and board secretary Becky Myers both signed the letter — there has already been pushback from another faction within that district.

DougCo Collective, which describes itself as a “consortium of engaged and concerned citizens working to hold up these important (equitable) principles for Douglas County School District,” released a statement condemning the involvement of Williams and Myers.

“Publicly endorsing exclusionary policies, especially ones that target already vulnerable students, undermines that commitment (to all students) and can have long-term effects on trust and feeling a sense of belonging in the district,” part of the statement read.

Halpern said CHSAA does not collect information about the participation of transgender athletes.

“We don’t know, it’s not our business to know,” Halpern said. “And we don’t inquire. It’s a local district decision, and it is a privacy issue for the students.”

Halpern added that it “is not within our authority” to meet the letter’s demands. CHSAA commissioner Michael Krueger responded directly to the letter’s signees on Tuesday, echoing Halpern’s remarks that the association will not be the one to decide on a transgender athlete ban at the high school level in Colorado.

“CHSAA continues to monitor this matter closely and is actively engaged in ongoing conversations with both state and federal officials to better understand the implications of recent executive actions and potential judicial outcomes,” Krueger wrote. “We remain committed to gathering insights and clarification to inform our approach moving forward.

“It is important to underscore that the ultimate resolution of these issues will not come from CHSAA, but rather from the highest levels of the state and federal judiciary. As such, CHSAA’s role is to support its membership in remaining informed and thoughtful, while providing timely updates to our member schools as decisions are rendered by the courts along with state and federal governmental officials.”

In the meantime, as CHSAA defers decision-making on the issue to the local level, it could create conflicts in the future when districts of opposing viewpoints meet in competition, if one district allows transgender athletes and the other does not.

Additionally, the association might find itself under investigation by the Trump administration.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association over the issue of transgender athletes in girls sports. Last week, the Trump administration sued Maine for not complying with Trump’s executive order. At the news conference announcing the lawsuit, Attorney General Pam Bondi said other states could also be sued.

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.