PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania school district says the female high school athlete that sued it after losing two races to a transgender female hasn't shown her constitutional rights were violated.
Colonial School District on March 28 in federal court filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit of an athlete known as A.M. in court records. A.M. says the principal of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School determined the other runner was a biological female when they are actually a male.
"You are not a girl. You should not be racing against girls," A.M. told the other runner, according to her Jan. 20 complaint.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association affords principals the last word when a "student's gender is questioned or uncertain."
A.M., a senior at Quakertown High School, first finished second during a cross-country race in September then again finished second to L.A. in a race, a 4x400 relay, in December. Her lawsuit says her 14th Amendment right to equal protection has been violated.
The lawsuit comes as a bill, the "Save Women's Sports Act," is pending in the state General Assembly. Republicans in the Senate Education Committee approved the bill in a party-line vote in March.
"It's imperative that we protect the opportunity for female athletes to compete on the athletic field in a fair and equal manner," the legislative memo says. "Allowing a biological male to compete on a women's scholastic athletic team puts all women on the playing field at an automatic disadvantage."
President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order declaring there are only two biological sexes. The order requires the federal government to use the term "sex" instead of "gender" and says "women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."
A.M. says her 14th Amendment Equal Protection rights were violated when forced to run against L.A. Colonial says she can't allege a violation of a right secured by the U.S. Constitution committed by a person acting under color of state law.
"Plaintiff failed to allege any facts that A.M. was the victim of purposeful discrimination or that she was treated differently from similarly situated individuals because of a protected characteristic," the motion to dismiss says.
"In fact, the word 'different' only appears in Plaintiff's Complaint within a quote related to sports organizations."
Michele Mintz of Fox Rothschild represents the school district, which is a co-defendant with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association and Quakertown Community School District.
Solomon Radner of The Law Office of Keith Altman in Michigan represents the plaintiff.