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All judges of the New York-based 2nd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals will now hear arguments in the case,
which had been heard by a panel of three judges last September.
The panel in December rejected claims by four cisgender female
students that the policy deprived them of wins and athletic
opportunities by requiring them to compete with two transgender
sprinters.
They had sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic
Conference (CIAC), which oversees high school sports in
Connecticut, saying its policy violated Title IX, a federal law
designed to create equal opportunities for women in education
and athletics.
"We're pleased the 2nd Circuit has decided to rehear this
important case, and we urge the court to protect women's
athletic opportunities," Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel at
the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which
represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
A CIAC spokesperson declined to comment.
The 2020 lawsuit came amid a push by Republican-led states to
bar transgender athletes from competing on teams or sports that
align with their gender identities.
Circuit Judge Denny Chin, writing for the three-judge panel, in
September said the four plaintiffs had not shown they were
deprived of opportunities, because all regularly competed in
state track championships and on numerous occasions came in
first.
The full court, following its usual practice, did not give a
reason for rehearing the case beyond noting that a majority of
the judges had voted in favor of it.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi, Lincoln Feast and David Gregorio)
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