A group of Colorado school districts has scored a major legal victory in their fight to preserve girls’ sports for biological females, following a settlement with the state’s high school athletics association.
District 49, which serves parts of El Paso County near Colorado Springs, filed a federal lawsuit in May alongside seven other districts, challenging Colorado’s current interpretation of civil rights law that permits boys who identify as girls to compete in female sports. The lawsuit named multiple state entities as defendants, including the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA), and the office of the state attorney general.
Last week, CHSAA quietly settled with the districts — effectively removing itself from the legal fight and granting the schools protection from being punished by the athletic body for enforcing sex-based team divisions.
Superintendent: “I Would Never Want My Daughters Competing Against Boys”
Peter Hilts, the superintendent of District 49, said the decision to codify sex-based sports policies stemmed from a growing national trend of biological males dominating girls’ competitions. His district passed rules last year stating that school sports teams must be separated by biological sex.
“I would never want my daughters to compete against a boy; that would be unfair,” Hilts told The Daily Wire. “We didn’t want a state agency to sanction our coaches or our student-athletes for advocating privacy, fairness, and dignity.”
Before the settlement, CHSAA’s bylaws could have been used to punish schools that didn’t comply with their gender identity policies. Hilts said coaches and athletes faced the threat of postseason bans and even disqualification from championships if they spoke out or enforced sex-based distinctions.
Now, that threat is off the table — at least from CHSAA. The organization maintains it never penalized any school over this issue, but the districts say they had every reason to seek legal protection.
Lead Attorney: Districts Are Leading the Way
Michael Francisco, attorney for the plaintiffs, called the CHSAA settlement a green light for other districts to stand up for fairness. “CHSAA’s decision to settle leaves it to Colorado districts as to whether they want to adopt a policy governing biological sex in sports like the plaintiff districts,” he said.
Francisco hopes the outcome will encourage similar legal action or policy adoptions elsewhere in the state.
Despite the victory, the broader lawsuit continues. The districts are still suing the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and the state’s attorney general, aiming to invalidate Colorado’s legal preference for gender identity over biological sex in athletics.
Trump’s Title IX Policy Looms in the Background
Superintendent Hilts tied the dispute directly to conflicting interpretations of Title IX. Under President Donald Trump’s current executive order, Title IX protects sex-based athletics — not gender identity.
“Colorado law gives precedence to gender identity, but Title IX was designed to give priority to biological sex,” Hilts said. “We think the state has been overly accommodating of the minority of individuals who want to compete outside their biological sex instead of protecting the thousands of other athletes.”
Hilts said he hopes the court case ultimately forces the state to align with the Trump administration’s federal guidance.
Pending Court Action Could Cement New Standard
On Monday, the case returned to federal court as plaintiffs argued against the state’s motion to dismiss. A ruling is expected soon. If the case proceeds, it could become a landmark test of whether state agencies can enforce gender identity mandates on local school districts that choose to protect single-sex sports.
“This is about common sense,” Hilts said. “Girls should compete against girls, and boys should compete against boys.”
Colorado is now a key legal battleground as more school districts across the country look to adopt policies that prioritize biological sex in the face of pressure from state-level civil rights commissions and athletic associations.
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