Judging Freedom - Court REJECTS challenge to CT_s allowing transgender girls to compete in female high school sports

Episode Date: December 19, 2022

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Hey everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, December 19, 2022. Today is the first day of Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah to those of you who celebrate it. Merry Christmas for those who will celebrate Christmas at the end of this week or actually at the beginning of next week. It's about 1130 in the morning here on the east coast of the United States. A federal appeals court last night, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers Connecticut and New York, issued an opinion involving a Connecticut lawsuit. Four female athletes sued the state of Connecticut challenging a Connecticut law which allows transgendered athletes to compete under their new gender. So when boys become girls, those boys who have become girls can

compete as girls against girls who were born as girls. And the girls who were born as girls, I'm using the language to make it very clear what I'm speaking about, even though sometimes it sounds like I'm using too many words. The girls who were born as girls argue, and I agree with this argument, that it is unfair for them to compete against the boys who became girls because the body parts used in the athletic competition are the body parts of boys. Okay. Now, why did this happen? It happened because the state of Connecticut, as liberal and left-leaning a place as New Jersey and California, has enacted statutes that say if you change your gender in Connecticut, you can compete

athletically in your youth under the new gender. Why did they do this? Because they probably want to encourage people to change their gender. Look, I'm a libertarian, as you know. I believe you own your own body. I'm talking about an adult. And you can do to your own body what you want. To me, it's reprehensible to change gender. But you have the freedom to do so. But when you do so, you should do so knowing that you call yourself the new gender, you look and act like the new gender, but there are body parts that haven't changed and that are still the old gender, and it would be profoundly unfair for you to be able to compete against your new gender with the body of your old gender, if you follow me. So the plaintiffs in this case have argued that the girls are competing against people that

look and act like girls, but their bodies are really boys. Okay. Federal District Court judge rejected that and said, the federal statutes that you have cited do not allow me to intercede. And last night, the Federal Appeals Court came down and said the same thing. So the federal judges are saying, there's nothing we can do about this. You either have to get Congress to change the federal law, or you have to get Connecticut to change the Connecticut law, but judges can't change the laws. So this is a public policy in Connecticut that has been enacted by the Connecticut legislature. And when you don't like public policy, you can't just sue to have us overturn it because you don't like it. You have to get it changed

through the political means. That's basically what the federal judges are saying. I think this is terribly unfair to the girls who are the plaintiffs because they are high school and college students and professional athletes who should be able to compete fairly against people who have the same musculature and body structure that they do, but they don't. They're competing against boys who have had their sexual organs and faces and breasts changed so that they can call themselves girls. Again, you can, as an adult, do what you want to your own body. You can call yourself whatever you want. You can behave in any way you want. And I'm glad the laws permit that. I wouldn't do it. And I would profoundly discourage any family member from doing it. But I'm glad you have the freedom to do that.

But that doesn't give you the freedom to compete unfairly. Is competition a federal right? No, it's not, at least not under the laws as they exist now. If the right to compete, let's say in a foot race, cross country, if the right to do that were a federal right, then federal judges would be able to interfere. But when Congress wrote these laws, the gender transitioning did not exist as it exists today. And Congress didn't think about what will the laws be for those who have gender transitioned. So if Congress wants to rewrite the laws, it should do so. If the state of Connecticut and its legislature want to come to their senses, they can do so. But the federal courts will not do it for them. More if we get it. I don't think there's going to be any more news on this. Perhaps these young women will appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

My prediction is they'll get the same answer. This is a matter of public policy for the Congress or the legislature. It's not for the courts to decide. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.